Madness
by Ancient2
Summary: Chaos and destruction has consumed the world as we know it. With so many Aragami around in the world it's no wonder the mind would slowly slip away. But the First Unit leader has lost hers long before taking the job. Join the Far East Branch and the First Unit as they struggle to survive their First Unit Leader and her... baggage.
1. Chapter 1

Give the story time it builds up after the first chapter. Aside from my protagonist characters and their families, all characters and the game Gods Eater Burst belongs to Namco Bandai Games and D3 Publisher.

Enters the Madness

The First Unit Leader was mad and her mind lost to the world. Although the term mad can be vague at best, she fit the definition like a fancy hat. She hadn't lost herself nor was she a monster. Her character was beyond eccentric at best. Her fellow God Eaters at the Far East Branch can vouch for that. Any one of them would tell you that she was a wild spirit that kept everyone on their toes. No one could ever tell what she would do the next day, but all would say there was never a quiet moment when she was around.

Most would say who could blame her, especially her team. She got most of the hard missions- especially the solo ones, she always helped others on their missions when they asked along with doing her own for the day, she was bound to silence by many of Fenrir's secret actions, and she was put under constant stress as she watched comrades die or disappear as she did her best to keep everyone alive. But she was mad the moment she came to the Den, in fact she hardy changed at all since the day she arrived.

Her unit believed this was caused by an outside force. Perhaps it was caused from drinking polluted water, or perhaps her head was bump once or twice too much. But the main reason they believed was because of her mysterious past. Their leader never really talked about where she came from or what she did before she became a Gods Eater. At first they thought it was just too painful for her to talk about, too many sad memories, but as they got to know her in time they discovered that she just didn't care for long stories. And apparently she had a story long enough to write a trilogy.

But nonetheless, she was a harmless mad. One could even call it a breath of fresh air. Her first true act of madness, the Den thought, was that she approached Soma in an attempt to befriend him even after their first mission together. Soma had said that mission was one of the few times he had ever seen her serious. He would never forget the look in her eyes as she looked at Eric's dead body, it wasn't cold or caring. Her eyes were devoid of anything, nothingness existed in solid form in that moment as she looked down at the blood and remains, as if she was accustomed to events like that. But then she wiped it all away the next day and began to pester Soma for more missions together. The Den saw her as mad but they didn't think she was insane enough to approach the legendary Death god. She had heard the rumors whispering among the halls, and she did not care.

Soma at first dismissed her off as an annoying pest, always seeking a thrill for the edge which probably drew her to him since his presence always lead to disaster. He was mean to her, his words were cruel and yet she did not falter. Sometimes he would end up having to Link-Aid with her to save her ass, at others she would save his ass before he was even incapacitated. Perhaps Soma got tired of fighting her, maybe she had found a crack in his ice wall, but in time he began to accept her company- even call her his comrade. But it took many more missions before he called her his friend.

That crazy woman has been through it all with them. Lindow's MIA, Alisa's break down, the Ark Project, the possible Aragami Infection from Lindow's God Arc, and the whole rescuing Lindow from himself, she had been through it all with them. And even then she never faltered being who she was, a mad woman with a love for First Love Juice and an itch for excitement.

But now the Den has come to a complete silence. There was no excited ranting nor any sub unit running for their lives. The First Unit Leader has grounded to a halt. No she was not dead, but was dead silent as she recovered from a cold. She had picked up a high fever during her previous mission and ended up fainting on the way back to the Den. Most likely from the recent increase in missions at the Wailing Plains and her neglect to pull up her hood. Soma had to reluctantly carry her on his back the rest of the way as the team rushed her to the Sick Bay. She was released from the Sick Bay the very same day, but was bed written in her room and banned from any missions until her recovery... that was four days ago. The hallway to her room became eerily silent since she was bed written, not a peep was heard from her door, nor any sign of her was spotted around the Den. But they all subconsciously feared going through her hallway as if they believe if they passed her door she would burst out of her door and scare the crap out of them or snatch them. But their fears were foolish, no incident like that has come up at all. Their strong New-Type leader was finally taken down... by a cold.

But the Den went on, missions needed to be done. However, the days had lost their spunk when she wasn't around. As the First Unit would state as they came back from a mission.

"Man, we managed to survive today too." Kota sighed in exhaustion. They had just gotten done taking out a Tezcatlipoca and an Aether at the Forgotten Carrier.

"There's no need to complain, Kota. We've faced much worse before." Alisa commented.

"Still, that mission went a lot quieter than usually when Fia's around. Maybe she should take sick leave more often." Sakuya joked around.

"Are you saying that she should get sick more often or that she shouldn't be around as much in general?" Soma mocked accusingly in slight offense to Sakuya's sense of humor.

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that." Sakuya immediately corrected, sighing as the elevator doors opened up to the Entrance. "(Sigh) I'm sorry, I guess I'm just trying to make some humor of the situation to drown out my worries. I am starting to miss that bundle of firecrackers."

"Well hopefully she's doing better today." Kota cheered with a fist pump. "Lindow's got babysitting duties today after all."

"Ha, I wouldn't be surprised if he was giving her beer and smoking around her out of boredom." Soma teased with a smirk. They had all made it a habit of checking in on her or leaving at least one of them with her when the unit went out on a mission. They had taken shifts and turns of one person at a time, Soma's shift is suppose to be tomorrow.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Soma. Lindow is very caring and nurturing once you get down to it." Sakuya said, defending her husband. "Fia is in good hands right now."

Just as she said that, Fia burst the stairway doors open. All paused at her appearance at last after four days of isolation, it was like looking in the eye of a storm. But she didn't look up, she had her head down as she leaned on the door frame. Her raven hair was wild, like she hadn't combed it for days, and was spread all around her face as it lacked it's usually ponytail style. She dawned on nothing more than a Desert Tank Top and Halcion Sweats which she used for pajamas. Her body had a light coat of sweat, her skin lacked its usual sun pecked color as she lightly shook on her bare feet.

"Fia Slade, what are you doing out of bed?! You know you shouldn't be moving around so much with that fever of yours." Sakuya demanded as her maternal instincts kicked in. "And where is Lindow?! I swear if he's sleeping on the job he's gonna sleep on the couch tonight."

"..."

"Well don't be so quiet, Fia. Say something." Sakuya said in concern. But Fia's hair continued to cover her face from the others.

"Don't be a handful, woman. Get back to bed." Soma ordered. At last she looked up at them, but as nice as they tried to be about her lack of self-care due to being sick they couldn't help but flinch as they looked at her. "!"

"Holy crap, Fia!" Kota shouted out loud, voicing what the others were thinking.

Her crimson red eyes were blood shot and clouded as if in a daze. Eye-boogers covered her eye lids and snot leaked from her nose. The only color to her pale as death face was her blood red cheeks that burned with fever. But what they could not get out of their minds was that evil eat-shit-grin on her face.

"Heh heh, hehahaha hahaha." She began to giggle with an evil chuckle as her shoulders shook with laughter. Her eyes were like that of a predator making every muscle in their body ache to retreat. Her eyes searched through them with haste until they came upon Soma.

"!" He flinched back as her grin grew wider at the sight of him. He couldn't believe this, he was one of the strongest God Eaters in the Den and yet he was feeling fear from this sickly whimsical of a girl.

"Yah!" She shouts pouncing on Soma as he turned to run. He knew that look she had, it was one of those quirks she would get when she wanted to play dress up for the day or have one of those random tea parties. But she was quick for a sick person, far quicker than she usually was... and stronger too. She clomped Soma to the floor and persistently held him down much to his horrified surprise.

"What the hell are you doing you idiot?!" Soma shouted in embarrassment and a hint of fear. She continued to giggle as he struggled some more. Slowly she crawled her way up his body as he continued to struggle, but Soma's body went stiff as he felt her nose on his neck. She gave him a sniff or two, much to his discomfort. But all comfort went out the room once he felt her tongue slide along his neck. "!"

"Holy crap!" Kota exclaimed, finally running to Soma's aid as he tried to pull Fia off Soma along with Sakuya and Alisa.

"Leader, what on Earth are you doing?!" Alisa gasped out with a blush. She had known her Leader to be bold but not like this.

"This is not appropriate behavior, Fia!" Sakuya lectured as they struggled to pull Fia off of Soma, but she was stronger than usual.

"Hurry the hell up, guys, and get her off of me!" Soma was blushing like a ripe tomato as Fia continued to nonchalantly lick his neck with delicate laps of her tongue. The struggle had returned to him after she had mumbled something about 'salty.' He thought things couldn't get any worse, then suddenly she took a lazy bite. "!"

"Good God, are you alright?!" Sakuya asked in concern as they started to put more force on Fia once she decided to chomp on Soma.

"No she's just... gnawing me gently." Soma said, struggling to find the right words to describe this.

"... Okay..." Kota said, finding the whole thing to be quirky. "Man, what I wouldn't give to see what's going through her head right now."

_~ Fia's Mind ~_

_This was a dream, she knew it was. There was no way a land made of candy could exist in reality, let alone where some of the candy could talk. She had woken up on a bed made of fruit Rolls-Ups to a field of grass candy and a little pond of blueberry sauce with Peeps floating on top. Chocolate bars acted as the rock formations and cotton candy floated in the sky. This whole place scream dreamland, but it was a dream come true for her and she wanted to explore it with the time that she had. There was a giant talking Pretzel that tried to stop her from adventuring onward, but she took care of him and ventured on.  
><em>

_She had stumbled upon a steep stairway made of Hershey bars that lead to a higher cliff side area. Apparently a doorway of Hershey bars greeted her at the top, even though she was outdoors. But she didn't have time to question it, the whole feet of climbing to the top had tired her. _

_"Fia Slade, what are you __doing out of bed?! You know you shouldn't be moving around so much with that fever of yours." More candy people, and apparently they knew her name. "And where is Lindow?! I swear if he's sleeping on the job he's gonna sleep on the couch tonight."_

_"..." Lindow was here too? She didn't remember bumping into him.  
><em>

_"Well don't be so quiet, Fia. Say something." This candy person must have been really concerned about Fia's weaken condition. But Fia was too tired at the moment to lift her head to look at them or even talk._

_"Don't be a handful, woman. Get back to bed." Ordered another voice that sounded of silk. It sounded as smooth as milk chocolate. Encourage by the voice she looked up, grateful that she finally did. These candy creatures looked delicious! And they probably could tell she was thinking that too by the way they flinched. "!"_

_"Holy crap, Fia!" Shouted out one of the candy people. A giant chocolate bar wrapped in orange peels, voicing what the others were thinking._

_There was a black lickerish, giant and curvy with its many twists. A strawberry short cake that was generously gifted with many giant strawberries inside its cake and on top of the icing. The site of them was making her mouth water with hunger, she had dreams like this once as a child. But then again she was dreaming this right now, so she was technically having it again now isn't she. There's nothing wrong with savoring the moment._

_"Heh heh, hehahaha hahaha." She began to giggle with an evil chuckle as her shoulders shook with laughter. These candy people were making her so hungry. But she made it a point to never eat food that talks to her, her mother taught her better than that. But then her eyes caught sight of the most delicious hot fudge ice-cream she had ever seen. It was a rich milk chocolate fudge with vanilla ice-cream on top of it, and sliding down its fudge like molten lava were delicious blueberries and their sauce. This was most likely the one that was talking to her before, the one with the milk chocolate voice.  
><em>

_"!" He flinched back as her grin grew wider at the sight of him. She didn't want him to fear her, but let's face it, he should be scared of her. Screw her principals she wanted to eat him so bad. And why shouldn't she, this is her dream what harm could it do?  
><em>

_"Yah!" She shouts pouncing on him as he turned to run. But she was quicker than usual, far quicker than she usually was... and stronger too. She clomped the fudge man to the floor and persistently held him down much to his horrified surprise._

_"What the hell are you doing you idiot?!" He shouted in embarrassment and a hint of fear. She giggled as she saw the blush coat onto his ice-cream and he struggled some more. Slowly she crawled her way up his body as he continued to struggle, but he went stiff as she put her nose by the area where the fudge and ice-cream met. She gave him a sniff or two, much to his discomfort. But all comfort went out the room once she went in for a taste. "!"_

_"Holy crap!" Orange wrapped chocolate exclaimed, running to the fudge man's aid as he tried to pull Fia off him along with the other candy people._

_"Leader, what on Earth are you doing?!" Strawberry shortcake gasped out with a blush. The poor things' cake was turning redder than her strawberries.  
><em>

_"This is not appropriate behavior, Fia!" The black lickerish lectured as they all struggled to pull Fia off of the fudge man, but she was stronger than usual._

_"Hurry the hell up, guys, and get her off of me!" The fudge man was blushing like a ripe tomato as Fia continued to nonchalantly lick him. Oddly enough he didn't really have the sweet taste she was expecting, he almost tasted..._

_"Salty?" She said allowed, bringing the poor fudge man out of his stupor and the struggle back into him. His taste was different, but she was starting to grow a liking to it. Once the fight had returned to him she decided to take a bite. _

_"!"_

_"Good God, are you alright?!" The black lickerish asked in concern as they started to put more force on Fia once she decided to chomp down on their friend._

_"No she's just... gnawing me gently." The fudge man answered, struggling to find the right words to describe this. Gently? No she wasn't, she was sinking her teeth into him._

_"... Okay..." The orange peeled one said, finding the whole thing to be quirky. "Man, what I wouldn't give to see what's going through her head right now."_

_That's when the the Pretzel stick from before came crashing in from the stairs she had came from. He was tired and slightly out of breath._

_"Lindow?! Where have you been?!" The black lickerish exclaimed. Lindow? The pretzel had the same name as her friend and old mentor? "Why weren't you watching her?!"_

_"I was." The Pretzel playfully whine. "But this crazy girl flipped a couch on me and ran off."_

_Flipped a couch on him? No she didn't, she just slightly buried him in rock candy he would've been fine._

_"That's nice, Lindow. But if it's not too much trouble would you mind getting her THE HELL OFF ME?!" Steamed the fudge man. Much to Fia's disappointment the Pretzel's extra strength was just what they needed to yanked Fia off of the fudge man. Funny how creatures with no arms were able to drag her away. The black lickerish and strawberry shortcake immediately released their holds on her to check if the fudge man was okay._

_"Are you alright?!" The black lickerish asked with worry._

_"She really took a number on your neck." Gasped the strawberry shortcake._

_"No, give me." Fia protested and reached out for the fudge. "Don't flaunt it if your not gonna give it up!"_

_The fudge man started to turn redder along with the other candy people._

_"Whoa, she must really like your taste." The Pretzel teased at the fudge._

_"Bite me, Lindow!" The fudge growled at him._

_"I'll do it!" Fia volunteered, trying to pounce back on him. But the other two held her down. "Oh come on! Just one more bite! *whisper* No body has to know *whisper*."_

_"Jeez, Fia! Get a hold of yourself!" Exclaimed the orange peel chocolate._

_"Ha! Why don't you get a hold of yourself!" Fia mocked at the orange peel chocolate bar._

_"What?" Then she look up at the orange peel man._

_"I've always hated orange flavored chocolate. You call yourself chocolate. You're not chocolate, you're lies!"_

_"?" They all were silenced with confusion._

_"(Sigh) Stop this. You're being irrational, Fia." The Pretzel accused._

_"It's my dream, I can do whatever the hell I want!" The she pointed at the fudge man. "And I want that fudge!"_

_"Honestly, I don't know whether she's being persistent or a brat." Sighed the strawberry shortcake._

_"It's the medicine. It's probably making her delusional." The black lickerish added together. "She'll probably run out of gas soon."_

_The lickerish was right, she was starting to get sleepy. This world was fading into darkness._

_"Ah man, it's over already? (Sigh) I guess the dream is over." Before fading back into a deeper slumbering she looked at the fudge. "Bite you later, Fudge man."_

~ Reality ~

"Way ta go, Hot Fudge!"

"Shove it, Kota. Let's just get her back to her room before she wakes up again." Soma grunted.

"Lock the doors?" Lindow asked.

"Lock the doors." They all agreed.

*** The next day ***

Fia had gently woken up, feeling a hundred times better. Her cold was gone, her nose was no longer stuffed, and she no longer felt like she was on fire. Stretching in her bed, she felt refreshed.

"Ugh, but I look terrible." Fia said aloud to herself as she look into her room mirror. Her hair was a mess. It took her half an hour in the bathroom to tame the messy mane, she really must have let herself go the pass couple of days. But still, it was nice of the others to look out for her while she was out of it. She wondered if it was Soma's turn to check in on her today. Either way, she planned on meeting her unit during breakfast before he showed up.

Picking up her pace, she went to her dresser to get out of her dirty PJ's to dawn on her trade mark Red Battle Top and Red Assault Pants. Looking into the mirror she felt pumped and refreshed. She looked presentable to society and her hair was back in its regular ponytail. People wondered why she would put a white ribbon in her hair when a red one would compliment her eyes better. But she would tell them that it appeased the ocean and kept the tsunamis at bay.

Having enough of the reminiscing, she headed out to the Mesh Hall to go say hi to the others. As Fia spotted at her unit's table she notice the air of awkwardness around it.

"Hey guys!" They flinched, she wondered why. She hasn't done anything yet, perhaps they're preparing for the temporary peace from her absence to disappear.

"Fi-Fi-Fia! Good to see you out and about again." Sakuya nervously greeted. "Looks like your fever is gone."

"Yup! I feel incredible!" Fia said in good cheer.

"That's great, Fia!" Kota cheered.

"Ugh, but I am so hungry I could eat a-"

"Person?" Lindow cut in.

"A whale." Fia correct. "Well some chocolate would be better. I've been craving for some fudge for a while now."

"!" Soma's eyes widened as the others started to giggle.

"Fudge you say?" Alisa giggled out.

"Yeah, I had this dream last night of a giant talking hot fudge sundae in a world made of candy." Then Fia got excited. "It was the most delicious thing I've ever seen. And I tore the crap out of that fudge! It was like 'No, get the hell off of me.' Like some damn tease, the dream ended and left me craving... for more!"

"Ah..." Kota nervous said as all eyes turned to Soma. He was angry, arms crossed, and face looked like he had a fist up his ass.

"Sorry, there's no fudge on the menu today." Soma hissed with his fingers digging into his arms. He wouldn't look at Fia as he spoke. "You'll have to settle with eggs and artificial bacon."

"Whaa!" Fia whined, not noticing Soma's angry mood. "(Sigh) Well, tomorrow's another day."

Fia went to reluctantly gather her breakfast. Joining the others, she sat between Alisa and Sakuya. Slightly disappointed she played with her sunny side up eggs until they became scrambled.

"Stop your whining and eat your damn food." Soma commanded at her. She was about to give a witty retort back when she finally got a good look at him... past his hood.

"Good God, Soma, what happened to your neck?!"

"!" Soma eyes widened in shock as his hand instantly went to cover his neck, the others bursting into chuckles. His poor neck was covered with bruises... and hickies.

"You look like you got mauled by a Vajra!" She then bolted out of her seat to grab Soma and cradled his face to her chest as she gently rubbed his head. "Oh you poor bastard, what happened?"

"..." Soma fingers angrily twitched into a fist as he stilled in Fia's embraced.

"Speak to me, who did this to you?!" Fia slightly wailed.

"Your mom!" Soma angrily growled up at her.

"Don't joke like that, Soma. If mom had done this your head would be gone."

"..."

"What?" This woman was beyond Soma.

*** Author's Notes ***

Fia is an Irish name meaning raven


	2. Chapter 2

Madness desires company, never walking too far alone as it draws others toward it. Be wary, learn to tell the difference from charm and pure insanity.

Inviting the Whole Madhouse

*** Inside the Meeting Room on the Director's Floor ***

"Gentlemen, your concern is flattering but there is no need for re-enforcements. My God Eaters have full control of the situation." Dr. Sakaki laughed nervously at the multiple screens of Directors from the other Fenrir Branches, looking at him with relentless eyes.

HQ had noticed a spike in the Far East Branch's New-Type Aragami attacks from their reports. At the moment it was the only Branch area that had discovered three new Aragami species in the period of a month. And their missions have ceased to ease up like they usually did over a while. Maybe it was due to the reminiscent of the Ark Project at Aegis Island that drew the Aragami to the area, and possibly catalyst their quick evolution jump. All in all, HQ and the other Branches did not believe the lone little Branch could handle itself... at least not for long.

"Enough with your stubbornest, Paylor. We're sending you re-enforcements and that's final." Replied on of the monitors.

"(Sigh) Why do I get the feeling you're either sending someone to babysit us or just dropping one of your problems on us?"

"Watch your tongue, Paylor!" Hissed another monitor. "We do not send some of our finest God Eaters in return for your sass."

"Your finest, for our little Branch? You're making me blush." Dr. Sakaki mocked with a grin.

"Tell us, Dr. Sakaki. How is Ms. Slade doing?"

"?" Dr. Sakaki got on guard at this turn of topic. His First Unit Leader was seen as a valuable resource to HQ, at times he worried that they would do anything to get their hands on her. But then he remember her wild character that even put his eccentric and mysterious behavior to shame. She was a salvation and a bomb all at the same time, and the thought of it made him flinch even when she wasn't in the room. It was as if even thinking about her would summon her out of nowhere. "Fia is doing well, why do you ask?"

"Hm, we were just wondering how she would react to a little... family reunion."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Sakaki said in disbelief as he tried to hide his interest. Fia never talked about her past, let alone if she had a family. The mere knowledge of the info peaked a curiosity inside of him.

"Ms. Slade comes from a long line of God Eaters. Second generation and... First. HQ split them up to separate- I mean, to evenly distribute the talent among Fenrir. But we think it would be wise to temporarily bring them all together until your Aragami excess is contained."

"I guess it wouldn't do us any harm." Dr. Sakaki sighed, finally conceding. "Besides, I think Fia would like the idea of seeing her family after so long."

"Ha, excellent! We'll be sending them over to your Branch right away." Dr. Sakaki began to regret his choice as he heard the excitement in their voice. And knew he regretted it once he saw the grins on all their faces. "Oh and good luck. Their eccentric behavior seems to be... genetic."

"Wait what?" But they had all logged off the screen before even answering his question. "(Sigh) Why do I get the feeling we've just became one giant experiment?"

*** Author's Notes ***

Give it time, it builds up.


	3. Chapter 3

Childhood could be the most memorable time of ones' life. Whether its good, terrible, or insane is up to the person. Warning, there will be cursing in this story from this point on.

Premonition

_"Fia, are your scopes ready yet?"_

_"Okay, Daddy, this is HARD to do when my hands are shaking."_

_"Well, you'll never get the shot if you don't steady up."_

_"It's cold, Daddy. Couldn't we get some coats, it's snowing!"_

_"You will feel the cold and let it sink into your skin. You'll live it, you'll become it, you'll love it."_

_"But, Daddy-"_

_"Quit your bitch'n and take the shot."_

_"Should we really even be out here, Daddy?"_

_"Heh, the Aragami shit themselves whenever I cross the Anti-Aragami Wall. And no one would dare stop me."_

_"Daddy, I hate when you get that eat-shit-grin on your face."_

_"Enough stalling, take the shot."_

_"But Daddy this thing's half my size and the shot won't do jack against an Aragami."_

_"You better take the shot, little lady, it's getting away."_

_"Daddy, I'm telling you there's no point to this."_

_"It's getting away, along with my expectations of you."_

_"This is just going to get it angry, Daddy."_

_"Oh no, it's leaving with a piece of Daddy's love for you."_

_"Ugh!"_

_"Hey, Fiaaa! Take the shot, Fia!"_

_BAM!_

_Plop_

_"THERE I TOOK THE DAMN SHOT! ITS HEAD'S GONE AND THERE'S BLOOD __**EVERYWHERE!**__"_

_"Oh you are just Daddy's Little Helper."_

"!" Fia had shot up out of her bed, covered in sweat. She always hated dreaming about her past, it always made her feel that her dad was just over her shoulders like a Bloody Mary in the mirror. It just gave her a chill up her spine, going on 18 and she was still scared of Daddy. Maybe the dream was a warning of days to come. But that couldn't be, he was far away... making Aragami shit themselves on another continent. Ugh, she'll never be able to go back to sleep after such a dream. There was only one thing for it.

*** The Next Morning ***

Soma had woken up, feeling warmer than he usually did under his covers. They were in the middle of winter so the temperature shouldn't have risen so much. He tried to get out, but he bumped into something that was also holding him down. Startled awake, his eyes shot opened as he sat up to pull down the covers. Just as he expected, she had snuck into his room again.

"What the hell are you doing here, Fia?" Soma said, too tired to yell or growl at her. She had done things like this so many times he wasn't surprised anymore.

"Ah... would you let me stay if I told you I had a bad dream?" She nervously laughed.

"What are you, 8?"

"In my mind I am." Fia innocently squeaked.

"Get out." Soma groaned as he used a foot to kick her out of the bed. She landed on the floor with the grace of a hippo.

"Aw, you're so mean." She pouted.

"Hmph, get up, brat." Soma smirked, getting out of the bed. "We've got a mission to go to this morning."

*** Forgotten Carrier ***

The Aragami were lively today. It was nothing special, just some various Vajratail and Fallen Cocoon Maiden species. However they were endless, relentlessly charging at the team as they were being lead by five alpha's that blended in with the other Aragami.

"Man, these guys are really persistent in having us for breakfast today, huh?" Kota commented as he continued to fire at them along with Alisa.

"Too bad for them, the all-you-can-eat buffet closed hours ago." Soma replied while releasing a crushing blow down on a Divine Vajratail.

"Whoa, Soma. Didn't think you had it in you to make a one liner."

"Shove it, Kota."

"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. Can we get back to business now?" Fia teased, slicing up at a Frozen Fallen Cocoon Maiden. The comment earned a grunt from Soma.

"You know, this would be much easier if you change into Gun-mode." Alisa suggested to her.

"Guns would not be good in my hands right now." Fia nervously confessed, adverting her eyes away from the others.

"What do you mean, just shoot the bastards." Soma growled at her reluctant behavior. This mission had already been going for ten minutes and he was just tired of these damn rotten pieces of meat popping out of the grown. If Fia could make this mission get done faster, then she better be pulling all her cards.

"What's the point of having a Gun-mode if you're not going to use it, man?" Kota commented.

"What do you mean, I always use my Gun-mode! I just don't feel like using it now."

"Well you better start feeling like using it right now, because we don't have time for this." Soma growled.

"Now's not a good time for it, Soma."

"Quit your whining, brat."

"Oh course I'm whining, you guys are trying to peer pressure me as if we're in High School."

"Enough stalling and just shoot!" Alisa yelled at her.

"Fine!" Fia yelled back, changing into Gun-mode. "I'll shoot some of the flying bastards! Don't regret this later."

But that one shot started the whole rampage. Her first shot for the day and it was a head shot. The Fallen Cocoon Maiden's head exploded like a water balloon, falling down as its blood squirted out. It twitched for a little while before permanently stilling. But the whole experience sent an adrenaline rush through Fia's whole body. Her eyes widen in excitement as they clouded up with blood-lust... a shiver ran up her spine at the Aragami's screech.

"Oh fuck the hell yes..." She said, her voice sensually coated with excitement. The others began to fade away as she happily fired at the Fallen Cocoon Maidens, head shot after head shot until she ran out of OC bullets. They were dropping like flies, as their corpses hit the ground Fia continued to slice at them with her Blade-mode. Perhaps to get her OC bullet amount up or perhaps because she just enjoyed it, the others couldn't tell. But what they could tell was that they shouldn't get too close to Fia right now, not with that Blood-craze in her eyes. Alisa couldn't even shoot her a Team Bullet out of fear of what the Burst rush would do to her when she was like this.

They had taken out most of the Aragami now because of her craze, leaving a couple more Vajratails to deal with. The others were able to take over those strays... all except the alpha one that was creeping up on Fia who gleefully kept slicing at a dead Cocoon Maiden. The others were going to come to her aid when she had changed back into Gun-mode to smack the Vajratail down to the grown with the barrel of her gun like a bat. Once down she step her foot down onto its neck and pointed her gun right in its head. She grinned... no, it was too wide to be considered a grin, she was full blown smiling as she pulled the trigger. The Vajratail's innards spewed everywhere, droplets of blood hitting her face as her smile never faltered and her chuckle turned into a full blown evil laugh.

"Sweet fucking Christ..." Kota blurted out, bringing her back to reality.

"Haha... Sorry there." Fia laughing slowly halted to a stop. "Almost went to my happy place there."

"Happy place? If that is what you consider your happy place, I'd hate to see how you'd react in your bad place." Soma commented in disbelief. Fia looked around at her worked, lightly laughing tiredly as she shook her head in exasperation while holding it with her right hand.

"See... this kind of shit is the reason I stopped spending Bonding time with Daddy..."

"..." A passing crow could be heard cawing from above as they all blankly stared at her in disbelief.

"...What?" Soma said with a raised eyebrow.

"Heh ha! Daddy's little monster." She began to giggle as she started to skip back to the Starting Point.

"You know, this is the first time you've ever said anything about your family." Alisa commented as they followed beside Fia.

"I honestly thought you just spewed out of the ground." Soma teased.

"Buddy, do I look like an Ork to you?" Fia asked in mocked offense.

"Sometimes I wonder..." Soma grinned, earning a playful punch from Fia in the elbow.

"Speaking of which, you must be excited for tomorrow, Fia." Kota said, bringing the topic back.

"Flan day?!" Fia happily answered as the thought of overly sweetened deserts excited her.

"No, I mean the fact that your family in transferring to the Branch!" Kota cheered, thinking that Fia had just temporarily forgotten the news like she usually did. A lot would run through her head constantly so she would usually jump from one thing to another and sometimes would forget some, they were all use to this cycle. Kota thought the reminder would make her happy... but it did something he didn't expect.

Fia had stopped in her place, becoming completely silence and blank of expression. For the first time in a while, her actions made their hearts stop for a second.

"What did you say?" She said, barely over a whisper.

"Y-your family. Doc said that HQ was transferring all them that were God Eaters to our Branch to help with the overflow of Aragami... I-I thought the Doc told you." Kota nervously answered.

"..."

"?"

"..."

"Fia?"

"..."

*** Later at the Director's Office ***

"So the Den will be full of Slades soon." Tsubaki summed up as she discussed this news with Dr. Sakaki. Apparently the news had gotten out quick, and Tsubaki had been upset that she had had to be informed of it through rumors instead of directly. "Do you honestly think we can handle all of them?"

"Enough with your concerns, Tsubaki. Don't worry about it, it's fine." Dr. Sakaki insisted to her with pushing hand gestures as he tried to reassure her. "There's no guarantee that they'll be as eccentric as Fia."

"Maybe, but there is a high chance." Tsubaki countered as she looked through the transfer files. "According to this we're getting five of them. Four of them are Old-Types, while one is an Older Model. You'd have to be one crazy fighter if you're still active in action as an Older Model."

"Oh, come come now, you're judging them before you even meet them, Tsubaki." Dr. Sakaki sadly came back with. "I'm sure they'll be a nice addition to our odd bunch of characters."

"Hello pot, anyone ever tell you that you're black?" Tsubaki scoffed back.

"Heh, tushay."

"Did Fia take the news well?"

"Um... I haven't... told her yet."

"I'm not surprised. She's never talked about her past or family, meaning she didn't want others to know about it. One would wonder how she would react to the news of their arrival once she finds out."

"You have little faith in our little First Unit Leader. I'm sure she'll be alright with this and will handle the news with the grace of a leader."

BAM!

"!" They both turned to the door.

The door shot open, Fia was staring at Dr. Sakaki with blood red eyes that screamed of murder. Her breath came out heavy with barely controlled rage as her free hand still rested on the door. The other one was being held back by Soma while her legs were being held by Alisa and Kota respectively. They looked as if they had been trying to hold her down for awhile, being dragged along in her angered pursuit. Her free hand had finally moved from the door to point an accusing finger at Dr. Sakaki. The simple little action had Dr. Sakaki wiggling behind his desk with fear.

"You." Her voice practically sieved with venom.

"!"

"You Bitch of a Son!" She barked at him, dragging the others along as she made her way to his desk. "What gave you the balls to invite those Dicks here?!"

"N-now now, Fia. Let's be rash adults about this." Dr. Sakaki nervously suggested, moving his hands in a surrendering motion as Tsubaki just sighed at the whole scene.

"No thanks, I'd rather avoid the itching and would just like to find out why the hell they are coming!" Fia shot back in humorous rage. "It's bad enough I'm stuck with those Mother Suckers on the holidays, now they're going to torment me in my work place!"

"They were sent by HQ temporarily to help us with our new Aragami overrun. They'll only be here for a while."

"Then I'd like to have a temporary transfer to another Branch."

"!" The others had been caught off guard by her sudden request. They couldn't believe she would ask that so easy, but the look on her face said that she was serious.

"Come on, Fia, be rational about this."

"I am being rational about this! I'm getting the fuck out of here!"

"That's not being rational."

"You didn't grow up with those Sociopaths, you don't know what you're getting yourself into!"

"Fia, you're not going anywhere and that's final."

"Damn you, you bitch of a son!"

"Ah, Fia, your saying the insult wrong. It's 'you son of a bitch.'" Kota corrected which brought Fia's anger down on him.

"Watch your mouth, for all you know his mother was a SAINT!" Fia explained to Kota before turning back to Dr. Sakaki. "I will not insult an individual's mother for the fault of the individual! And if you say I'm incorrect for calling Dr. Sakaki a son take into account everyone came into this world by a mother, and somewhere out there he is someone's son. Whether a son of earth or a birth mother, he's still a son! And no matter which mother we are referring to doesn't change that fact the HE is STILL a BITCH!"

All went silent as Fia huffed out the rest of her frustration and her anger slowly cooled to a halt.

"Are you done?" Dr. Sakaki patiently asked.

"Yeah... I think I'm finished..." Fia tiredly huffed out.

"Good," Dr. Sakaki cheered, returning back to his usual grinning self. "We wouldn't want your father see you speaking in such a manner."

"Actually he'd be pleas- !" Fia just stopped mid sentence at her automatic response at the magically word. "... Did you say that Daddy's coming...?"

Daddy?

"(Cough) Why yes, HQ was insistent on sending ALL active God Eaters in your family here." Fia's eyes widened into saucers and dilated at Dr. Sakaki's words.

"NOOOO!"

*** Later that Night ***

Fia had disappeared after her little exclaim in the Director's Office and had been hiding somewhere in the Den ever since. Her team had searched for her for hours to no use, and to no avail. After a while they had given up their search, she was still in the Den so she would be fine. And beside, if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found. She'll come out in her own time.

But Soma could see her now, curled up in a ball rocking back-and-forth as she twiddled her thumbs in distressed. He couldn't say that he wasn't worried about her, but also couldn't say that he wasn't glad at not having to clean up the mess.

But speaking too soon, there she was. Sitting on the floor while going through his fridge as he entered into his room.

"I don't believe this. You broke into my room, again!" Soma groaned, ignoring her comical tears as she looked at him with her stuffed chipmunk cheeks.

"Soma," she whined, swallowing what was in her mouth with a big gulp. "He's coming. That's crazy devil is coming here."

"You went into my fridge?!" Soma flabbergasted in disbelief. A vein popping out as she reached into the freezer section to pull out a bucket container and started digging in it with her spoon.

"It's all over for me. That crazy beast is going to kill me!" She comically cried much to Soma's un-amusement.

"Get out of my ice-cream!"

*** Somewhere in Europe ***

"..."

"I hear you're being transferred to your kid's Branch by the heads."

"..."

"Are you excited to see your kids again?"

"..."

"?!" God... that straight-from-hell grin.

"Heha ha ha! Hahahaha Ha haha! Ecstatic."

"..." Dear God, those poor kids...

"I'm going to enjoy every damn minute of this."


	4. Chapter 4

Family are the people you love unconditionally but still have their crazy and frustrating moments in life.

The Slade Legacies

The Den had been on their toes at the news of the new arrivals that were coming that evening. Especially since they were apart of the eccentric yet allusive Fia Slade's family. The First Unit Leader had been diligent at keeping her past in the dark, now it all was coming into the open in one full course much to the disapproval of Fia herself.

She had expressed her feelings all ready in so many ways that the First Unit primary objective of the day had to be changed to keep her from running. A task in itself that was proving to be challenging, because Fia took the chance to run from them whenever it came up. They had to capture and drag her out of the kitchen area of the Mesh Hall, avoiding uncooked potatoes and frying pans through it all. Then the many rooms that she broke into and hidden in that were not part of their unit so they had to get the rooms' owners in order to open the doors.

One time she got so desperate that she ran into the females community showers, stripped down, and barricaded herself in one of the big tubs for a good two hours. It was a good move on her part, none of the boys would enter such forbidden grounds. But she didn't take into account the girls on her team. Sakuya and Alisa had practically dragged her out of the bathingroom starch naked from the tub. After some awkward moments having to hear struggles, squeals, and splashing sounds the girls had finally dragged Fia out- all of them soaked to the bone- kicking and screaming in nothing but a towel. The drag back to her room for some change of clothes was awkward at best for all of them, except for her apparently.

But then again, she got pass them. Finally finding her hiding under one of the sickbeds in the Sick Bay, Soma had vouched for tying her up. And so there she was, sitting on the floor, defeated. Her head hung low as her hands were tied behind her back by a rope wrapped around her with one end being held by Soma like a leash as they waited for the new arrivals in the Entrance lounge area.

"Stop pouting, it's not the end of the world." Soma grumbled to her, giving the rope a pull. "You wouldn't be like this if you didn't tantrum so much."

"Must be awesome living out one of your fantasy kinks, huh Soma." Fia mocked with a grin of her face, causing the others to blush. She did point out something questionable about this whole situation, it had been his idea to tie her up after all. And it didn't help his case that he was sitting on the couch while she sat on the floor.

"S-shut up!" Soma embarrassingly command, giving her rope an extra tug. "You're the one pouting on the floor out of your own choice!"

"Doesn't help your case that you're yanking my rope like some bondage fetish." Her smirk grew wider as she look up to him. "(Chuckle) Thank you, sir. Can I have another?"

"Knock it off!" Soma growled at her, his growing blush had her laughing louder.

"Don't let her get to you, Soma." Lindow said to him. "She's just trying to embarrass you enough that you release her so she can get away."

Her laughing came to a halt. "You already saw through my plan, Lindow?"

"I did now."

"Hmph, well played." Fia's teasing came to a stop at the noise of helicopters passing overhead, outside. "Soma, please untie me."

"No way. I'm not going to have you running away on me."

"Please... let me have my dignity when I face my family."

"..." Soma could see that she wasn't faking it. The defeat and acceptance of her fate could be heard in her voice. Knelling down, he untied her ropes. Once freed, she sat on the couch to lean over the railings, waiting for the front Entrance doors to open.

There was a pause of anticipation that passed through the whole Entrance as all went silent. That's when it happened... the first Slade came in. This young man was huge, bulky through years of the gym. He would have to be big in order to carry around that big God Arc cannon, F-BS Launcher, as if it was made of plastic. His tone muscles shown through his Petunia Jacket and Blue Sniper Pants. His wild brown mane remained wild with its short spikes (Style 13). The guy's brown eyes gave a gentle look to his rugged peach haired face. If one word would describe him it would be...

"Beast!" Fia waved at him.

"Squirt!" He happily called up to her, opening his arms. "Come here and give me a hug!"

"Nah-ahn, you've got to work for it! Come up here and get it!" She grinned, waving an arm for him to come up.

"Ha! You cheekie brat." The big Gods Eater chuckle. Rushing up the stairs to wrap her in a bear hug that lifted her off her feet as he swung her back and forth. "There's my little buddy, my good old pal. Hm, have you been eating? You're so skinny it feels like I could snap you like a twig."

"Blaise, I can't breath." Fia barely wheezed out, causing the young man to immediately let go.

"What? Oh! Sorry, sis."

"(Cough) You bloody bear. Where's Rangi and the twins?"

"They're on their way in, you know how Nina and Lynn get around Rangi, the poor bastard."

Like speaking of of the devil, Rangi appeared. His slim figure gave him two and a half inches height over Fia. He had his sister's raven hair, but he kept it short and sprayed about (Style 11). His Phantom Blade and Trismegistos + God Arc was strapped to his back as he walked in. He wore a Cobalt Coat with the under shirt actually zipped up as he kept his hands stuck in his Black Formal Bottom pockets. His brown eyes looked to the floor, expressing a tiredness of the world in his dark and mysterious nature.

"Hey, Rangi. Get away from the twins?" Fia said with a gentle wave, which Rangi responded with a grunt.

"Hmph," Rangi huffed. "The clingy little brats, how I despise them."

Much to Rangi's displeasure, they appeared like kittens from hell. Two young girls about the age of 14 each attached themselves to one of his arms. On his left arm was the young girl with wild black hair under a hat (Style 4). Her F-type Pistol BlzSpk God Arc was strapped to her Red Formal Top's belt as she sported Dunk Star Pants. While the other kept her raven hair in cute pigtails and a hat (Style 17). Her Freezing Knife EX and Seraphim E God Arc was attached to her Welkin Tights' belt while her top sported a Cobalt Goth Top. Other than style they looked exactly the same down to the faces. However they had a rare eye mutation that made one of their eyes brown and the other crimson red. The one in blue had a brown right eye and a left red one,and the other one in red had a brown left eye and a red right one.

"Nii-san!" They both chimed in a sing tone voice.

"Why'd you run off?" The blue one cutely asked.

"We missed you, nii-san. We don't get to see you as much anymore." The red one added in before they spoke at the same time.

"So we have to spend as much time with each other as we possibly can."

"Oh my God, Lynn." Rangi said with a sigh to the blue one then turned to the red one. "Nina, you guys are like the needious kids."

"Rangi be nice, they haven't seen you in a while." Fia lectured. "So suck it up, last thing we'd want is for them to throw a tantrum. Lord knows that the two of them together make up a whole New-Type Gods Eater on PCP."

"Ugh, there's no need to remind me twice."

"Sisy!" The twins cheered as they ran to up the stairs to her older siblings, dragging Rangi along with them. Forcing him into a family hug once they made it to Blaise and Fia. "Blaise!"

"Hi, girls. Have you guys been causing trouble in the California Branch?" Blaise tease.

"Only a little," Lynn answered with a wavy hand.

"We only destroyed one building." Nina put into more detail.

"That's my girls." Fia smirked.

"Are you kidding me? They just admitted to taking down a building!" Kota exclaimed.

"I know." Fia grinned. "They've done what we've all wanted to do."

"I swear there's something wrong with you, Fia."

"Well that may be true, but look me in the eye and try to tell me you haven't wished to do something like that once in your life." Fia said, pointing with an accussing finger. Kota was flabbergasted, he could not deny that he hadn't thought about it when he was a kid.

"Hey, whose your friend, Fia?" Lynn questioned as her and her twin circled around Kota like hawks.

"He's got a good fashion sense, for a boy." Nina commented.

"I guess an introduction is due. Damn there's so many of you..." Fia sighed into her hand before pointing to each respective person as she said their name. "Okay... This is my big brother by two years, Blaiser; my little brother by one, Rangi; and 14 year old sisters, Nina and Lynn. My fellow misfits, this is my unit. Sakuya, Lindow, Alisa, Kota, and Soma."

"!" Soma got nervous when his name caught the attention of the twins. He didn't like the look in their eyes when they started to circle around him... they had the same look their sister would get. "Is there a problem, Squirts?"

"Your style is just bleh." Nina said sticking a tongue out for a second to express her disapproval.

"?!"

"Your clothes screams loner and moody. And that hood takes away the features of your face." Lynna explained with more detail.

"Those clothes have got to go." Nina insisted as her and Lynn started to try taking Soma's hood off, much to his resistance. "We've got to give you a more hip look. You need some more color in your look."

"No way. Get off me, you brats!" Soma growled at them as they continued to pull on his coat.

"It's bad enough we have to deal with a dark and pessimistic style Rangi keeps changing back to, there's no way we're letting things slip down that road as well." Lynn insisted.

"What I wear is of my own choice. I'll be damn if I let some kids who barely grew out of their baby teeth play dress up with me." Soma growled at them.

"We will not watch this fashion stupor happen!" Both twins said with determination.

"Ugh, damn brats."

"It'll be over quicker if you just give in." Rangi suggested to Soma through experience. "You can just change back later."

"What?! I'm not encouraging this!" Soma barked in response, using his height over them as an advantage he held their heads back to keep them away from his clothes. But they were strong little girls and they were pushing their way back to him. Soma worried he wouldn't be able to hold them back much longer without hurting them when Fia came to the rescue. She had grabbed her sister by the back collar of their shirts and yank them back to her, lifting a good two inches off the floor.

"What do you two think you're doing?!" Fia chewed at them.

"(Sigh) Thanks, Fi-"

"You don't just attack a person's clothes, that's un-sportmen!" Fia lectured over Soma's thanks, much to his disbelief. But then he got nervous when an excited grin came over her face. "You gotta give a good 30 seconds start before you go after the prize. That's the thrill of the hunt."

"Ohhh..." "Got it, sis." Lynn and Nina replied at the same time.

"Hn, good." Fia nodded in approval to her sisters, before turning back to Soma with an evil grin. "You better start running, Soma. Because I'm in the mood for tea."

"This is insane, I'm not running because you and your sisters are clothes fanatics!" Soma shot back to them with a gruff. Anger coated his voice, but a nervousness was slowly coming over him. His instincts were telling him to run, run fast and run far.

"I've always silently gave you all the fair 30 seconds start. You just never chose to take it. Which by the way you got ten seconds, Soma." Fia informed, lowering her sisters' feet back to the ground but not letting go.

"!" Soma nervously took a step back. It was bad enough Fia would occasionally stripped him down to play dress up, it would probably be worse with three of them.

"Grace periods over, Soma. Time to play- !" Fia gasped out of nowhere, freezing in place with fear.

"!" The horror in her eyes caught Soma off guard as she fell to her knees and started to breath unevenly.

"God, it's him! Like Dr. Sakaki said!" Her heart began to beat faster. "I didn't think they were crazy enough to actually send HIM!"

"Fia, what's-"

"Prepare for hell, it's Azar!" Fia cried out in terror. Her sisters let out a scream too, whimpering as the slowly cowered to hide behind Lindow. Much to Lindow's confusion and worry. Here he thought he was going to get a good laugh at a show when the girls were suddenly struck with fear. Their brothers had a hint of fear too, as Soma noticed the increase in their heartbeats as their eyes widen for a moment and they began to sweat. Whoever was coming must have been something if they had all the Slade's afraid.

Then the front doors burst open, a chill entering the Entrance with it... that wasn't coming from outside. There at the door was a man with long wild raven hair. He had an aura about him that made his Sweeper Rouge Top coat seem like it wasn't originally red. Black gloves cover his hands, matching his Sweeper Noir Bottom. Strapped to his left thigh was a Pistol-shape God Arc, something that was a spectacle in itself. Finally his head looked up from his hair cover. His pale skin contrasted with Fia's and the others'- except Rangi- peach tone skin. His eyes were a crimson red like Fia's, and his face was well shaven to give him that late 20's appearance. But that grin... O that grin he was wearing made him look like a demon straight out of hell. It didn't help his case much when he began to chuckle with shaking shoulders which soon turned to a full blown ominous laugh.

"Heh hahahaha! Ha hahahaha! HA HAHAHA! HA HAHA HA!" He hisses as he relished in his burning sides caused by his burst. Then his eyes caught sight of the kids up the stairs at the lounge. His eyes and grin grew wider at the subtle flinch they made as their eyes met. "Daddy's here."

*** Author's Notes ***

Each of my created characters were named after an element in different languages or cultures:

Nina- fire; Lynn- water; Blaise- fire; Rangi- sky in Maori; Azar- fire


	5. Chapter 5

Every child has a fear and respect for their father, some greater than others.

Daddy Crimson

"There's my little Firecrackers." The man known as Azar said toward his twins, opening his arms wide. "Give Daddy a huge."

"!" The girls flinched, jittering in their legs as they refused to move a step toward their father. So he went to them. "(Squeak)!"

"Aw, daddy's little squeakers." Their father chuckled, making them freeze in place as he brought them in for a hug.

"H-hello Daddy." They both nervously greeted.

"Now why are you two so nervous. You know I'm much easier on you than I am with-"

"!" Rangi's eyes widened in shock as his father's attention turned to him with a grin.

"Rangi..." Azar stretched out his name as he approached his youngest son. The only child he had that had his pale skin complexion. "Rangi..."

"!"

"Heh, so how's my boy been doing?" He nonchalantly asked, placing an arm around Rangi's shoulder.

"The usual, just killed a bunch of Aragami til now."

"Shit, you too. What's your kill count at. Nay, never mind. Let's face it, I'm winning."

"Well for now old man."

"Ooh, challenging your old man already. Better not regret it when I smoke you out there."

"!" Rangi gulped. Azar gave his shoulder one last squeeze before releasing him.

"Blaise."

"Dad." They both nodded at each other with a normality that caught them all off guard. Until Azar brought the crazy back when he spotted Fia.

"Fia." He practically skipped to her as he open his arms for a hug.

"Daddy!" Fia chimed, repeating the gesture. You could practically see the flowers falling and the birds chirping as they skipped towards each other. But then all the fluffiness stopped as things took a 180.

"Fia!" He grinned as a fist scooped down for a cheek as hers scooped up for his.

"Daddy!" Their fists hitting their mark. Their cheeks molded into the offender's fist, all went silent. "You hit like a pussy..."

"Pussycats are a bitch to deal with when they're angry. I though I taught you better insults than that, you brat." They pulled apart giving each other a stare down before going in for another punch.

"I'm not trying to piss you off. God knows what happened the last time that I did!"

"Ah, yes, that was an invigorating memory. I couldn't recall the last time our boots were soaked in blood together."

"?!"

"That day was terrible! My shoes reeked of blood forever!"

"And yet you still wore them."

"THEY WERE MY FAVORITE!"

"Aw come on, we use to have fun with our father daughter bonding time. Remember how we use to sneak out the Anti-Aragami Wall to hunt down Aragami?"

"?!"

"You had fun with that, I always came back covered in blood because you would always want me to cutoff the head to bring back as a trophy!"

"Ahh, that was to build character."

"What character?! How to break into someone's home and take their head for sport? Cause that's practically what we did, but with Aragami. And it was just awful, I went through clothes like a growth spurge!"

"But it taught you to wear red now, didn't it?"

"Daddy!" She tried to bring her fist down together on his head, but he grab her arm and drag her down from his side. Laughing as he gave her bottom a spank before she hit the ground.

"Ha! You're a hundred years too early to be trying that on me, Fia."

"Damn you old man!" She screamed as she rose to her feet and charged again. The First Unit were confounded as to why this was happening. Soma was going to get in between the two when Blaise pulled him back, as the two brawlers ranted on.

"Whoa, hold your horses there, cowboy."

"What the hell are you doing? Aren't you going to stop them?!" Soma growled at Blaise.

"You can't stop them once they get like this. Only one person could do it, and they're not here at the moment." Blaise explained. "It's best to let them tire themselves out. The last person who got between them got a broken arm and couldn't see out of their left eye for weeks."

"... Your family is insane."

"Yeah... I know..." Blaise sighed in agreement as the return their attention to the chaos at hand.

"You're as crazy as I remember, must get it from your mother."

"Hello pot, did anybody tell you you're black?" Fia mocked rhetorically. "You're one to talk, you're break-into-someone's-room-and-stand-over-their-bed-with-a-knife-bat-shit-crazy!"

"Oh you do that one time and they never let you live it down."

"I was 8 years old!"

"I wanted to make your birthday special." Azar was not making his case any better.

"I would have been more than happy if you had just flashed a flashlight in my face, poured cold coffee on me, or flipped over my mattress to wake me like you normally did than shoving my gift in my face."

"Honestly, fighting over the past is simply trivial and childish. I taught you better."Azar lectured with disappointment. Suddenly their fight came to a stop, both sporting bruised cheeks, a slight leak of blood from the lips, and bloody knuckles. But their faces shown with a craze blood-lust and yet also with a hint of endearment. "Looks like your Branch could use some help."

"We don't need any help."

"Then why am I here?"

"Because my boss is a wuss."

"(Chuckle) Regardless, this is still a win for me. I've been looking forward to shooting down a new breed of prey." Azar grinned as he pulled out his pistol. Shaking all over as he chuckled. "Sweetie, do you think if I shot them with my gun blood will explode everywhere?"

"Good God, Dad, you're the only pistol model Gods Eater crazy enough to still be active." Fia sighed, slouching her shoulders as she looked to the ceiling. "You're a bloody General and 'still' you go out on the field."

"Heh, bastards wouldn't be able to stop me from going out there even if they wanted too." Azar smirked. "Speaking of which, let's go for a stroll out of the AA Walls. I've been dying to get some field action since I was stuck in that Chopper ride."

"What?! You've got to report in with Director Sakaki."

"Fuck that guy, I've got to stretch my legs."

"(Sigh) Daddy..."

"Soooo... wanna bond with Daddy like old times?" He grinned, wrapping an arm around Fia's shoulder.

"Do I even have a choice?"

"Nope."

*** Author's Notes ***

Remember this name, it may not show up now, but it will show later on in the story. And it will be important.

Avani- a Hindu name for 'the good earth'


	6. Chapter 6

I'm going to focus on this story for now since this story is only going to be 14 chapters long. Then I will return to my other story. However, each of the remaining stories will be based on extra missions that you have to download onto the game. Some released to the American version, others... only in the Japan Version.

The Bigger Predator

"(Taking a deep breath) Ahhh, you can practically taste the fresh air." Azar happily spoke out. His feet crunching through the snow coated floor of the Tranquil Temple. His breath came out in cold fogs. "The air is chilling, the moon is full, I am practically dying to sink my teeth into gods. Get it, it's because I'm a Gods Eater. Heh hahahaha."

"..."

"Oh come on, that was funny, you sticks-in-the-mud."

"(Sigh) Daddy..."

"Don't be a kill-joy, Sweetheart. Daddy **needs **to shoot something." He practically purred his words.

"How do you even know there's Aragami here tonight?" Fia sighed. She had been shepherded into taking her father out here and had been left hanging by her siblings. Not to abandon her to her fate, Soma and Lindow had followed too. But it felt like they were looking at them through a glass, their presence just seem like extras in the crimson duo's antics. Their bruises from their earlier brawl had long since healed as they walked alongside each other.

"I have my own Aragami senses; and it's tingling." He was practically giddy at the sensation.

"(Sigh) Oh God, I thought I'd never have to hear you say that word again." She rested a hand on the side of her forehead. "It's been years and yet it still gives me such a headache."

A loud screech rang out from the entrance of the main temple. Azar didn't even wait a moment to pull out his pistol from its thigh hostel, a maddening grin sweeped across his face as he ran for the kill.

"Oh boy." He chimed as he rushed off ahead of the others.

"Daddy, wait, don't go off on your own! It sounds like a Susano'o up ahead!"

"Fingers crossed!" He chuckled, crossing the fingers of his free hand.

"Is your dad out for his death wish?" Soma questioned Fia, worried about the soundness of her father's sanity and the lack of self preservation.

"No, just a turn on."

"What?!" Soma couldn't believe how nonchalantly she said that as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about it.

"The thrill of a challenge excites him. He longs for the day he gets a run for his money."

"So he's a adrenaline junky?"

"Extremely." She elongated word on her tongue as the finally climbed up the final set of stairs. What greeted them was not to there liking.

"Ah, great..." Lindow sarcastically groaned out. It was in fact a Susano'o that had greeted them, but to make matters worse it was not one but-

"Two," Soma growled out, getting his guard up.

"You got me a present?!" Azar called out to the closest Susano'o. "What a very merry un-birthday to me!"

"And you guys said I was nuts?" Fia retorted back at the boys as her father charged blindly at the two Susano'o.

"!" Soma and Lindow watched in shock as they witness an Old Model in action. And not just an Old Model, the Demon of the Wastelands. Legends of him have spread throughout the Gods Eater world, a wild beast that cannot be tamed by HQ and yet too valuable to dispose of. Even if they wanted to, it was an impossible task, the man was the embodiment of fear itself. Many would fall and have fallen at the odds he has faced and he would come out of it alive. The man was known as a cheater of death and death itself at times. His God Arc was older, considered weaker, and out of date; but still he was a force to be reckoned with. He had already proven how the lighter weight of his pistol made him more agile as he quickly jumped on and around the Susano'os, firing at all angles while avoiding their counters at the last second.

"Wait for me, Daddy! Don't hog them all to yourself!" Fia happily jumped in, slicing at one's God Arc claws to keep its attention off of Azar.

"Back me up." Soma commanded as he rushed to assist Fia.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Lindow waved off while lazily complying. He'd hate to quote Soma, but they could handle this themselves. Especially how quickly Fia and Soma had broken through their Aragami's claw armor and chest armor. Once it realize it didn't stand a chance, the Susano'o tried to make a run for it.

But a powerful shot blew off its needle half of the tail, knocking it off its feet. They turned to see where the fire came from, when they looked upon Azar standing on top of his overturned Susano'o. The Aragami was curled dead with its humanoid head missing, which they soon noticed was in Azar's free hand. He held the head by its mane as his still steaming barrel was still pointed at the knocked down Susano'o.

"Come on, we were having a good time a second ago, then I blew your fucking tail off!" He growled at the beast, the Susano'o tried to get up and run but Azar blew off a leg as he approached. It had been the first time Lindow and Soma had ever seen anything like this... the Aragami was terrified of Azar, it's fears coated its humanoid head. But who could blame it? Azar looked like a demon with blood-lust eyes at that moment, making the guys appreciate that he was on their side.

"What's wrong Devouring god, why don't you just regenerate your legs!" Azar growled, tossing up the head in his hand to grip it by its skull. He crushed the head in his hands, dropping the pieces to the floor as its blood leaked from his hand to drip a crimson path on the snow white ground as he walked around the Susano'o. It tried to crawl away but he shot off another one of its legs as he moved to the front of it. "Get back up on your feet! Hit me! Fight me! (Inhaled) Take a bite."

He was taunting the Aragami, tempting it really. He stood right it front of the Aragami's face, grinning down at it with his crimson eyes as the wind blew his hair. All paused, the Aragami made no move. Seeing that his opponent lost the will to fight, he put his pistol to its head and took the shot.

BANG

"Daddy, that was my prey." Fia whined as she extracted the core, finally removing the other's core. "You had your own."

Soma and Lindow could not believe how casual she was being about this. They were at a lost on how to react to the display of brutality they had just witness. Azar simply put away his God Arc and looked to his daughter, a few drops of blood splattered on his face and trigger arm.

"Sorry, Squirt." He apologized, rubbing the top of her head with his bloodied hand. She didn't even flinch at the touch of it. "I'll make it up to you next time. You'll get your kill."

"Aw man, there's going to be more?! Ugh, my body won't be able to handle this."

"Quit your bitch'n and start'a move'n. Your body wouldn't be so tired if you actually stuck to your training. But I bet you stopped the moment I took my eyes off of you."

"Um..."

"Honestly, I expected for my Little Helper to follow in my foot steps."

"O, I do, Dad... more than you know."

"O I know, you're just softer than I imagined you'd turn out."

"!"

"Ah, well, my rush is gone." Azar yawned out with a stretch. "Wanna head back to the Den?"

"Of course, where else would we go, you bloody rush junky!" Fia retorted back.

"Right back at you, you righteous sociopath." Azar shot back as the group started heading back before a small piece of his fatherly nature slipped out. "Oh, and wash that blood out of your hair, that's filthy!"

*** Returning to the Den ***

Coming back to the Entrance had been a much more quitter event as the Branch's three top unit members occupied themselves with the Slade siblings. They had all turned to the elevator at the return of the conquering four.

"So, how did it go?"

"Bite me, Blaise." Fia barked at him.

"Oh come on, sis, you use to enjoy going out with dad on your own."

"Grr, damn you Brutus." Fia hissed at her brother who had left her hanging with their crazy old man. Who at the moment was being approached by Shun.

"No way! An actual still active Old Model wielder!" Shun said mock-awe, which usually came out rude for those that didn't get a chance to know him. Shun wasn't really good at being a team player which he had been working to better, although it didn't show up at times. Usually when he was meeting new people, especially God Eaters. "And I thought Gen was bad. Just retire already old man, you're stinking up us new deals with your out-of-date methods."

"..." Everyone stood still as Azar simply stared at Shun. They couldn't believe Shun had just said that. Either he had some major balls or he had no idea who he was dealing with.

"!" Turned out to be the latter as Shun looked in shock as Azar suddenly pointed his pistol at Shun's forehead.

BANG

PLOP

"That shot wouldn't have killed him." Azar pointed out to his daughter, annoyed. Fia had kicked the back of Shun's knees, making him fall back to the ground just as her dad took the shot, making the OC bullet barely miss him.

"It would still hurt." She also pointed out.

"I know... that's why I did it."

"(Sigh) Dad..."

"W-what the hell old man?!" Shun shouted recovering from his shock. "Are you going senile or something- GH!"

Shun grunted out in pain as Azar's foot had stomped down onto his chest mid sentence. He looked down at the young boy in anger and annoyance.

"And everything that comes out of your mouth just pisses me off, Punk!" Azar hissed before rubbing his foot further onto Shun. "Now I'm going to teach you how to respect your elders."

"Daddy, stop!" Fia order with a hint of a plea. "He's my friend."

"Are you serious?" He turned his head to her with a raised eyebrow in disbelief. Then he gestured toward everybody else in the three units. "Is everyone else here your friend as well?"

"YES."

"Ugh." Azar groaned out in annoyance as he reluctantly lighten his foot pressure on Shun. That's when Tsubaki and Dr. Sakaki came onto the floor.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Tsubaki demanded as she saw one of her God Eaters under a Transfer's foot. "Azar Slade, explain yourself!"

"Excuse me," Azar said in annoyance as his foot lifted off of Shun to rest on the ground beside him. Fia took this chance to go around her father and help Shun get on his feet, pulling him away as well. A vein was popping from Azar's forehead at this Branch's on going display of lack of respect. "But I'm a fucking General. I've killed **a lot **to get where I am. I deserved to be called as such."

"!" Both Tsubaki and Shun looked to him in shock. Tsubaki at her stupor in forgetting that he outranked higher than her in her rare display of emotions at seeing one of her God Eaters in threat. And Shun at his stupor for not knowing that he was high ranked, the mere fact that he was still in the game should have hinted to that. But Tsubaki was in a shock, she had never had anyone stand up to her or match her intensity with something greater.

"Yes, of course, welcome to our Branch, Slades." Dr. Sakaki greeted, trying to keep the piece. "General Slade, I thought your Chopper was suppose to be here an hour ago."

"It was... I went out for a hunt."

"You just... walked out?"

"With all due respect General, you were to report into Director Sakaki as soon as you arrived. Anyone other action is insubordination."

"Ma'am, let me make myself perfectly clear." He touched his fingers together in exasperation, making a pyramid with them. "I've killed a lot, and I mean a lot, before and when I was a Gods Eater. I'd be damned if I'd take orders from babes on the field. I take orders from no one, only requests."

"!" This man must have been insane, they all thought, if he was talking to Tsubaki like that so boldly.

"What?!"

"Honestly, the only reason I'm here is because the idea of new challenges had me throbbing to get here."

"Well as long as it doesn't last for four hours." Fia added in.

"Oh! And to make sure my little helper over there hasn't gone soft." Azar put in, pointing at Fia behind him with his thumb.

"General!" Tsubaki called for his attention again. "These actions are intolerable and must cease!"

"Ma'am, there is only one woman who can tell me what to do. And you're not her."

"!"

"M-maybe we're getting on the wrong foot here, General." Dr. Sakaki trying to bring everything back to a cool down.

"You're right, I am here for one reason. My children have also been summoned here for one reason." His grin grew wider with a twisted glee. "To help you with your new breed infestation problem."

"..."

"I will assist you, but only in my own way and means."

"General! You cannot-"

"Try ordering me again, Little Girl! See what happens!" His crimson eyes were practically glowing with rage. Lindow had stepped in to his sister's aid, witnessing what happened last time when Azar got pissed, along with Fia. If there was one thing the First Unit learned is that you don't want to mess with a pissed Slade.

"Easy, Mr. Slade." "Daddy, please."

"(Sigh) Rest assured I will get the task done. There's no need for you to worry about my... methods." Azar said, cooling down. "Just stay out of my way and we'll all be back to our daily routine."

"..." 'Dear God, what had HQ sent them?' Dr. Sakaki thought to himself in mental exhaustion. If this was what it was like only a couple minutes in, he was going to lose years from his lifespan. No wonder Fia was so adverse at having them come to the Den. It appears that one Slade was Slade enough.

"Ah, well, tomorrow's another day." Azar smirked. "Now where are you bunking us? I've got some snoozes to kill."

*** Late that Night ***

God, it had been a long day for Soma, not only did he have to deal with Fia, he had to handle her insane siblings and her father that was more crazy than Fia. Soma could see that the apple didn't fall far from the tree with that family. No wonder Fia turned out the way she did, it made him fear what her mother must be like. But, through it all... once you get down to it... Fia was the most sound of mind than anyone in the Den. She had an unbreakable will and a heart as strong as a lion even though on the outside she seemed to have a few screws loose.

He laid in his bed in the darkness of his room, staring at his ceiling as he waited for sleep to take over. Tomorrow was another day of madness and he'd best get all the rest he could get before it arrives. But it seemed the universe wasn't going to give him a break. His heightened hearing could hear the silent opening and closing of his door, the soft tiptoeing into his room, and the ruffling of his sheets.

"Damn it Fia, how many times have I told you not to break into my room?" He tiredly growled at his intruder.

"Ah... 1273, if I don't count your last sentence..."

"If you can remember the exact number you should easily be able to remember the demand!" Some retorted back. But Fia ignored his tired anger and continued to crawl into his bed. "What are you doing, woman?"

"Sleeping with you tonight."

"!" A blush came over his face as she cuddled up to him. But he could tell that her words had no hidden meaning, but that didn't mean it didn't give any impure thoughts. "Hell no, get out of my bed, woman!"

He tried pushing her out, but she had learned to avoid it. By staying on his right side he could no longer push her onto the floor, only to the wall. He had only given them some space, not get rid of her.

"Please, Soma. I had a crazy day."

"You and me both." Soma jabbed back. "That's why I need all the sleep I can get, in peace."

"But I'll never get that peace with my family around. My guard must be always be up, I'll never be able to rest. My father must be planning to break into my room early in the morning as we speak."

"And he'll probably have a bullet with my name on it once he finds you here."

"I'll disappear before he arrives, I promise I will. I just need to sleep."

"You can sleep in your room."

"Please... I feel safe with you around." Soma couldn't withstand the pleading look in her eyes.

"(Sigh) Fine..." Soma gave in, lifting the closest arm to her as if to say 'get in here before I change my mind.' Not giving his offer a second thought she rushed into his arm and cuddled back into his side, much to his annoyance. "Why am I such a sucker?"

"Because lollipops are delicious."

"Yes they are, but that's not the point here."

"Then it's because... you're a sweetheart..." She said as she fell into a slumber, leaving Soma all alone in that dark room. Her warmth was soothing, but her breaths on his neck made his hairs stand up and filled him with inappropriate thoughts.

"This is going to be a long night..." This woman will be the death of him...


	7. Chapter 7

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

The Reigning Beauty

It was a peaceful morning in the Den. All was quiet and at rest. The morning sun had just arisen over the horizon, but silence had still ruled over the earth as gray clouds covered the sun's warming light. A light rain had fallen on the morning making all sleep longer in a soothing doze. And the same applied to Soma who rested in his bed. His warm covers shielding him from the cold morning. He laid there so peaceful, so relaxed, in one of those rare moments he let all of his guard down.

BAM!

"Where is she?" Azar practically growled as he broke Soma's door open, bashing it to the ground.

"!" Soma had shot up awake, alarmed at the murdering aura leaking from his unexpected guest. He had to fight the urge to look to his right to see if Fia was still there, cause now would have been a horrible moment to give anything away. "What the hell old man?! She's not here!"

"Don't lie to me, boy. I can smell that she's been here, her room has been empty all night."

"!" How the hell did he know that?

"You're lucky you're still wearing all your clothes or I would have shot you."

"?!" That's right, he had been too tired to change out of them last night. Azar must have summed nothing happened between Soma and his daughter because of this. "The hell?! I didn't touch h-"

"I know you're here, Fia." Azar interrupted, inviting himself into the room. "I can smell your fear. It's pouring out as much as the rain."

"?" Soma felt himself shaking, but it wasn't him, he wasn't afraid.

"You can't hide from Daddy, Sweetie." Azar grinned. "I always win in hide-and-seek."

"!?" Soma began to panic when Azar stopped right in front of his bed and grinned wider down at him.

"Found you." He chuckled out.

"!" The world had suddenly flipped on him as Soma found himself on the floor. Azar had tossed his mattress to the floor along with Soma. Apparently Fia was hiding between the mattresses. She must have snuck back into her room to change out of her pajamas and back to her trademark clothes some time that morning. But Soma wandered why she had to hide here? It was like she was begging her 'Daddy' to shoot his ass off.

"H-hi Daddy." She nervously laughed up at him.

"Don't you 'hi Daddy' me. We've got some training to make up. This Den has turned you soft."

"No, Daddy, no!"

"Yes, Daddy, yes!" Azar mimicked her, grabbing her ankle before turning to Soma with a pointed finger. "And you!"

"!" Soma was taken by surprise when Azar grabbed his ankle with a free hand and started dragging them both out of the room.

"You're coming with me. You could use some good training if you can willing harbor fugitives."

"!" Soma began to struggle, gripping whatever he could to get out of Azar's grip. He wondered why Fia wasn't putting up a fight like she normally did. "What the hell?!"

"Soma." Fia called to him in a defeated voice as she limply let her father drag her off.

"?!" He had never seen her so defeated before.

"I can't stop what's going to happen nor do I know what will happen. Daddy's a little hard to predict at times." She sighed as she turned to look a Soma, her cheek dragging on the floor. "I just want you to know I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare give up on me, Fia! I didn't sign up for this!" Soma growled, refusing to give up. He turned to look at Azar retaliation. "And you! You must be insane if you think treating us like this is okay!"

But Azar just simply grinned. "Bitch, I might be."

*** Wailing Plains ***

It was early morning, it was raining, and it was cold. Soma's fists was literally twitching in irritation at the whole situation. He could've been sleeping for a few more hours but he was out here looking for an Aragami that was supposively out in this infernal rain.

"Are you guys as excited to face a new Aragami as I am, because I'm practically salivating right now."

"..."

"Let's just get this over with, Dad."

"Christ, fine, we're going. You kids are just buzz killers." Azar complained as they all jumped from the Starting Point. They had circled around the arena before they spotted their prey... a Venus. This Aragami was big, but not at the Ouroboros level. It had four legs and a tail with purple hued armor, oracle bulges were spread around its body, and in its front was two horns and the upper half of a woman. She had a voluptuous body, long red hair, and two horns that looked like a devil's. "Nice ta-tas."

"Daddy!"

"What?! Your mom's hotter!"

"Knock it off you two, it's coming!" Soma warned as the Venus charged at them.

They all dashed out of the way when the Venus brought it back in reverse trying to get them again. Soma had busied himself with the weak spot bulging from its back leg and tail. While Fia and Azar circled around the Venus firing at it with wild abandonment.

"Rather weak form, didn't I teach you better?" Azar lectured as the Venus almost got a hit on Fia when one of its bulges extended into a horn.

"O forgive me, father, it's just hard fighting an opponent I've never seen before in my life!"

"Quit your bitching. Life is full of surprises and the unknown. You have to face it, charging like a bull, if you truly want to live. Not like some duck with one flipper!"

"Hate to ruin your father-daughter moment, but could you both just shut up and fight!" Soma growled at them as he destroyed the oracle bulge on its leg. Angered it began slapping its tail to try and hit him.

"Soma, get back! Chick's going to hurricane!" Fia warned. Soma jumped back at the last second as the Venus twirled around in a strike than fired some Divine attacks.

"Did she just fire that from her butt?" Soma said in disbelief as the blast came from the oracle bulge under her tail.

"Does that count as a fart?"

"Quit joking around, it's coming!" Soma growled, grabbing her hand to run out of the way as its horns expanded with Divine sparks at the tips as it charged at them. Once missing them it let out a Divine explosion around itself, on instinct Soma shielded Fia with his body even if they were a safe distance away.

Leaping at the Venus even as the explosion was still around it, Azar shot off the bulge on its back by the tail. The Venus fell to the ground from the shot. Breaking loose from Soma's arms, Fia went to strike its front.

"Soma, you hypocrite, get your head in the game." Fia laughed at him.

"Spare me, woman!" Soma growled at her, taking his annoyance out on the Venus's legs.

The Venus was down on its last legs as the others relentlessly sliced at it. Azar moved to its front while Fia sliced at its horn. Fear came over its face as Azar looked at it with those blood-lust eyes and his eat-shit grin. He grip onto one of its head horns and pointed his barrel at its collarbone.

"When you see the Devil in the Underworld, tell him Azar said 'hello.'"

BANG

"Fatality. Well now that that's over, why don't we head back for some breakfast?" Azar said to them as they extracted the core.

"The Mesh Hall isn't even open yet, Dad." But the news just had Azar smirking wider.

"No lock can stop me. Your friend's door can vouch for that."

"It's Soma, and you're fixing my door." Soma growled out.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to that later."

*** Later that Morning ***

It was an early morning than usual for the First Unit, but they had woken up early to be the first ones in the Mesh Hall. It was a special day today, aside from the showers going on outside. It was Pancake day in the Mesh Hall, a rare treat that actually was delicious compared to what they're usually served. And they wanted to get to them before the others woke up and the lines built up.

Lindow and Sakuya left their room to go get their teammates so they could get going. They were going to get their closest teammates when they noticed Fia's door wide open and Soma's was broken down. And if they looked toward the wall by their room they could see claw marks as if someone was trying to resist being dragged away. They didn't see any blood meaning Soma and Fia were fine, because if those two were in real trouble the hallway would look more like hell.

So they went to get Kota and Alisa who were ready to go. They were ahead of their predicted time so they would have to wait for the Mesh Hall doors to open. But when they got there the doors were broken open. Well... more like someone shot off the door handles. With caution they opened the doors, scouting for any possible threat. But they only spotted Fia and Soma sitting at a table with Azar... eating pancakes.

They were soaked over, covered in mud, and their teammates looked tired. Soma looked irritated as his fork poked at his pancakes, while Fia tiredly ate hers. While Azar tore through his pancakes like a wild beast.

"You guys have been quiet for a while now." Azar said between chewing. "Are you guys upset, or something?"

"..." They didn't even look up at him from their plates.

"Oh I know why you're angry! It's because I spilled all that juice isn't it?"

Soma just stood up from his sit. "I'm out."

"Soma, where are you going?" Fia practically pleaded out to him.

"To take a damn shower." Soma growled back at her. Not in irritation of her but at the fact he was soaked to the bone and was as cold as a homeless Eskimo.

"Aw, come on, kid. Don't be like that."

"It's Soma." Soma barked, not giving a damn at their difference in rank.

"Looks like the poor boy can't handle a little rain." Azar chuckled.

"Actually, Dad, I could due with a warm shower myself." Fia countered, getting up to leave too.

"Aw, come on, you're leaving me hanging too." Azar whined as Fia caught up to Soma.

"Ah, ah, ah, none of that fuss." Fia shot back at him with a wagging finger as she temporarily walked backwards to talk.

"Ugh, fine." Azar gave in. "But it better be damn separate showers!"

Soma and Fia had almost tripped on their feet at his words. Turning their heads to yell back at him like angry tomatoes.

"Sir!" "Dad!"

"Just checking. Oh and Fia we still got some training to do this afternoon! Don't make me have to look for you again."

Fia had slightly picked up her pace at his words making her move a little ahead of Soma. As they were moving out they spotted the others at the doors.

"Hi, guys! Sorry we already had breakfast!" Fia greeted them as her and Soma left.

"W-wha? But Soma, you didn't finish your pancakes." Kota pointed out.

"Fuck pancakes! I just want to take a shower and get my damn door fixed."


	8. Chapter 8

Sometimes the destructive union of two opposing elements can be devastatingly beautiful.

Blue Vs. Red

It had been a long day for all of them in the First Unit. Soma had returned to his room after his shower to see that his door was fixed. Like his word, Azar had indeed repair his damages. However, the claw marks on the wall were another story. Soma had to kept his head down as he passed the angered janitor lady, jumping up and down and ranting about the damage she would have to repair.

So far that day he had minor missions with Lindow and Sakuya most of the day, while Kota and Alisa were stuck with the Slade twins. None of them had seen Fia all day after that incident at breakfast. At first they thought she was doing missions with Blaise and Rangi, but those two had been doing their own two man missions all day. So she had been most likely training with her dad... that poor girl.

"Do you think Fia is alright?" Sakuya asked in concern. They all gathered in the Mesh Hall for a well deserved early dinner after their long day. The sun was still up, but well on its way to the horizon.

"Dad has always favored Fia when it comes to training. She's the one that resembles him the most out of all of us, so he tries to mold the best out of her. (Chuckle) If we're not careful, she'll become his Mini Me." Blaise explained.

"Ugh, God forbid." Rangi groaned. "We already have to deal with one asshole in our family, we don't need another one."

"Bitch, I will slap you back into your mother." Azar sassed out behind them. They all turned around, stifling a scream as they looked upon Azar and Fia... covered from head to toe in blood. The twins flinched away from their father, closer to Kota and Alisa in fear.

"Speaking of assholes, hello father." Rangi smirked.

"Screw you too, Rangi." He smirked back.

"Christ, man, what happen to you two?!" Kota yelled out in concern. The look on Fia's face was so blank.

"To be honest we had a pretty long day. We were suppose to relax with a mission in the Infernal Subway after a long day of non-stop field training. It was suppose to be a simple scouting mission, just to make sure the area was clear."

"And... was it clear?" Kota nervously asked.

"It was certainly clear after we got done with it." His smirk looked even more evil with all the blood covering his face. "Right, Fia?"

"God... blood... there was blood everywhere."

"(Chuckle) I know. That Sekhmet never saw it coming."

"Ugh," Fia groaned out in disgust.

"And what you did to that Fallen Chi-You. Priceless!"

"O God..." She looked like she was going to throw up. What the hell did she do?

"And that Chi-You pussed out like a bitch."

"Ugh, Dad, I don't need to remember that shit."

"Heh, you're right. I'm not use to seeing an Aragami bled so much blood like that anymore. It was like magic."

"God, Dad, stop smirking like that. It's creepy."

"Jeez, fine. Let's just invite your boyfriend for the mission and get out of here."

"!" They all gasped in shock, Soma's hands clinched in anger.

"You have a boyfriend, Fia?!" Kota asked in surprise.

"Not to my knowing." She answered with a lack of care.

"Sure you do," Azar corrected, pointing a finger at Soma. "It's that boy right there."

"!" They all looked at Soma in shock as he blushed.

"I'm not her boyfriend!"

"Are you saying you're not a boy or my friend, Soma?"

"Not now, Fia. Save the sarcasm for later." Soma growled at her, unable to keep eye contact with her.

"Regardless, we still want you to join us for a mission." Azar requested, disregarding Soma's denial.

"!" The Slades were caught off guard that their father had actually invited an outsider on one of his Aragami killing sprees.

"And what exactly would we be targeting?" Soma smirked with his arms crossed. But his smirk slowly faded as Azar's grew.

"A Caligula."

"?!"

"You mean that crazy strong new breed of Hannibal?!" Alisa said in surprise.

"Indeed, so are you in kid or not?"

"I told you it's Soma." Soma hissed before he took a breath to calm down. "But yes, I'll go as long as a Slade is going just to make sure you guys don't go overboard."

"Heh, by all means try." Azar smirked before turning toward his other kids. "There's a still a free slot open. Any of you want to come?"

"Sorry, Dad, me and the twins got a mission with Lindow in the City of Mercy with Lindow." Blaise declined. "We've got some Gboros to take care of."

"Damn. Well at least you'll be close by. What about you, Rangi?"

"Cocoon Maiden infestation in the Sunken Grid. Going to take care of it with Sakuya."

"Aw, dude, that sounds like fun." Kota said, being sarcastic. "Apparently some Aragami gore splatter has attracted Cocoon Maidens to the Infernal Subway too. Me and Alisa have to take care of it."

"Well you all seem busy. I think it's about time for us to head out." Azar commented with a stretch, as him and Fia waited for Soma to come along too.

"Why don't we tag along." Lindow suggested, much to the twins grimace. "We are going to the same mission area after all."

"You do have a point there."

"Aren't you going to clean up first?"

"The blood attracts the prey much easier. Now come along then junior."

"Now you're just doing it to piss me off. My name is Soma."

*** City of Mercy ***

"Ahh, just before twilight. The perfect time to go on a mission." Azar said out like a breath of fresh air.

"I'd suggest we should split up now, General." Lindow politely advised. "My team can head over toward the church while your team can head over in the other direction."

"Well that sounds reasonable." Then he turned toward Fia as Lindow's group left the Starting Point. "Sooo, shall we take a stroll around the city?"

"Not like we have much choice on the matter, do we."

"We always have a choice. I'm just **very **enthusiastic about my walks."

"Because you get to kill homicidal Aragami?"

"It's because I get to shoot my gun and guts spill out. Heh hehha hahaha."

"Sweet Christ you two. Let's just get this mission over with before you nut jobs go in a blood rage on me."

"It's best to go with the flow when Daddy gets like this. Otherwise you only get headaches." Fia suggested, giving Soma a comforting tap on his shoulder by his side.

"You're one to talk, you Trigger-happy she-wolf." Soma teased at her, grinning at how the nickname bugged her.

"She-wolf?! I am a lady, you scoundrel." His smirk just grew wider as she hissed out her insult. He had forgotten the presence of her father as he was enjoying pushing her buttons.

"Says the woman who sneaks into my room at night."

"Fuck you, Soma, I'll tear your room apart!"

"Jeez, Fia, I didn't think you wanted me so badly."

"Bite me, Soma!"

"No thanks, you're covered in Aragami blood."

"Ugh, you annoying cur!"

"Should I start calling him son, Fia?" Azar interrupted, bringing Soma back to reality. He couldn't believe he picked at Fia in such a way and Azar didn't freak out.

"You're not helping, Dad!" She growled in frustration. "Ugh, I'm so mad I could strangle something! Let's just get this mission over with."

Fia had jumped off the Starting Point, leaving the guys alone.

"You've got some balls talking to my daughter like that in my presence."

"Ah... !" Things got nerve wrecking when Azar got in front of him.

"But if you kids ever don't use safety I will punch you."

"It was just a joke! And shouldn't you be saying that I shouldn't ever touch your daughter?!" But Azar just kept raising his fist at Soma every time he said the a-word.

"If you kids ever don't use safety I will punch you, again and again and again. And then I'll shot you."

"..."

"Let's get going before Fia takes all the fun." Azar grinned, jumping off the Starting Point as if nothing happened.

"The fuck...?"

*** With Lindow's Unit ***

Lindow's team had heard one of their targets inside the church, most likely eating some salvage material. They had taken cover behind the wall just outside chapel room, waiting for Lindow to give the signal.

"Alright, we're moving in. You guys ready?"

"Yup." "Right." "I'm game." The Slade siblings said together. Lindow gave them nod to signal them to move out.

Rushing in, Lindow changed his Aragami-arm into gun mode and started to fire.

"Eat this- Aw crap!" Lindow stopped mid-action as they came to the knowledge that it wasn't one of the three targeted Gboros but two. The fight was going to be harder than they expected. But so what if they were going to face their targets at once instead of one at a time, they've been through worse odds. "Alright, come on help me out."

"Got it!" Blaise replied, firing his cannon God Arc at one of the Gboros while the twins charged at the other one. Switching from side to side between each other, confusing the Gboro as they charged. Nina shot at the Gboro's eyes, blinding it while Lynn pierced at its teeth. In anger the Gboro started thrashing around and smacking into the wall. The wall was already structurally unsound, the extra thrashing to it had the entrance tumbling down.

"Ah!"

"Lynn, get back!" Nina warned. Lynn had jumped back to the others, getting closed in with the others... and the Gboros.

"Ahh, great." Lindow sighed in annoyance. "Can this get any worse?"

ROAR

Rang out through the church as their last Gboro target came jumping into the church through the Aragami entrance. Due to the increasing disaster piling up on them, Blaise had only two words.

"Ahh, crap..."

*** Back with Fia's Group ***

"Did you guys feel that?" Fia asked the guys, feeling the sudden small rumble from the ground as they exited the alley way. "It felt like a small earthquake. (Gasp) Do you think the others are okay?"

"You're over reacting, Squirt. Don't worry about it." Azar waved off her concerns as they continued in their direction. Fia still looked behind her toward the church with worry.

"But still, there could've been a cave-in from the trimmer."

"Sweetie, have I ever steered you wrong?"

"..."

"Ouch... well that's a huge kick in the nuts. By the way, we have more company than expected."

"!" Fia's eyes widen with Soma's as her father pointed at the rouge Blaze Fallen Zygote flying around the open area with the Caligula that just jumped in. The Zygote shrieked at hearing them coming and glided its way toward them. "Looks like we got more trash to take out."

"Come on!" Fia taunted at the Zygote, wanting to get rid of the small guy before going after the big guy. Jumping in the air she began bombarding the Zygote with fires from her gun-mode, a twisted grin came on her face as it came falling down. "Heh haha, it's raining bullets today."

"Fia, don't let your guard down!" Soma warned as he saw her getting too excited for her own good.

Just as Soma had warned her, a Frost Fallen Zygote came flying out of the back room of the church. Coming in at her fast for a bite. "What?!"

The Zygote had caught her by surprise, she had no time to turn her God Arc and fire to stop its incoming teeth. But it was Soma who came to save the day, sending a hard blow down on the Zygote. Knocking it to the ground along with the other defeated one. Angered by her minor lapse in attention, Soma turned to Fia, fuming.

"I told you not to let your guard down!" He growled at her.

"Ahh, my knight in a blue hoodie!"

"Don't give me that!" Soma sneered at her, focusing on extracting the cores as he lectured her. "That could've ended bad, and you know it. Be more careful next time, idiot."

"Yes, mom." Fia whined out, but still moved in closer to Soma to give him a peck on the cheek. "But still, thank you. I can always count on you to have my back."

"!"

"Focus your fire, Fia!" Her father ordered at her as he jumped around the Caligula in a relentless bombardment of fire. "We are going to tear this beast apart!"

"Heh!"

"Back me up!" Soma ordered at her, passing Fia as he charged at the Caligula. Finally recovering from his moments blushing-shock at her kiss.

"Yeah, yeah. I swear, it must be the men that I attract." Fia exhaled, she was beginning to see a pattern in the men she hung around. All demanding, and all of them charge full-heartedly into trouble.

The Caligula let off a blizzard around it, giving Fia only a second to hide behind Soma's shield. She was already in gun-mode and wouldn't have enough time to change into blade-mode for her shield.

"Ah, bitch, that's cold!" Fia yelped out behind Soma. "Lucky we're all wearing coats."

"It's not that bad." Soma shrugged off.

"Not that bad?! Soma, it's 70 degrees out here and yet it's snowing. That attack created it's own blizzard and still you leave your coat unzipped!"

"Never knew you were a bitch to the cold." Soma teased with a smirk, never letting down his shield as the attack went on. "What's next, are you going to say you're afraid of snowman."

"Terrified."

"... what?"

"Look out it's coming!" Fia shouted as it charged at them on two legs. Caught in the moment she threw down a Stun Grenade, stopping the Caligula in it's tracks and blinding Soma for a second.

"Ah Damn It! You could've warned me you were going to do that, you jerk." Soma hissed.

"Sorry, I usually do, but I was acting on instinct."

"Get it in the eyes!" Azar demanded as he took advantage of the Caligula's temporary stun as he fired at its arm guard. "Shoot out its eyes!"

"Your dad's insane!" Soma said, attacking at the Caligula's head.

"We've already established that." Fia groaned out, firing at the halo scale on its back. Recovering from its stun, the Caligula pulled out its arm blades, slicing at them in a deadly dance. "Whoa!"

"Get back!"

"Heh!" Azar grinned as he fired the shot to take out the Caligula's arm armor. Not taking the damage well, the Caligula made a run for it to Sector M. "Don't let him get away."

Azar practically chimed the command. Rushing around the corner they didn't even give it enough time to devour the salvage material. Enraged, the Caligula flew in the air to come down on Azar with a frost spear, who dodged it at the last second. Use to a Hannibal, Fia thought that was it. But she was sorely mistaken when the Caligula dash behind itself, toward her, with a blade attack.

"Ah!" She was knocked back and into Soma, who caught her like a good teammate.

"Get up, Squirt! You've had worse." Azar called back to her in his weird way of showing his concern. Firing at its leg, he knocked the Caligula down.

"Yeah... right." Fia agreed, righting herself on her feet then charging at the knocked down Caligula. "Come on, you pansy! On your feet!"

She was able to break off its head armor before it got back on its feet. Its loss of armor made it angry and wild with its swings. But finally getting the hang of its fighting patterns, they were able to easily dodge it. Soma sliced at its limbs while Azar shot at its tail. But it was Fia's shots to the front of its back that finally took it down.

"Man, is that it?" Soma retorted in disbelief, that fight was easier than he expected.

"Oh I'm not done yet!" Fia chuckled out, bending to her knees as she poked the Caligula's head with her barrel. "Come on! Get up, you little weasel!"

"Fia, it's dead. It's not going to come back if you keep poking at it."

"Ugh, if only." Azar complained. "That fight was such a cock tease."

"Yeah... it was kinda a buzz killer." Fia sighed out, getting back up on her feet as she looked to her dad and Soma. "Wanna see if the others need help on their mission?"

"Oh of course. Let's kill some more Aragami and make **our coats redder.**"

"An impossible feat, you legal sociopath. We're already covered in blood."

"Dry blood, there's a difference."

"Ugh, that's right. It's going to be a nightmare getting this stuff out of my hair."

"You guys are nuts, no wonder why most in the Den turned to beer." Soma groaned out in exhaustion as they made their way passed the Starting Point and toward the church.

"Ooh, I'd love some tea right about now." Fia sighed out.

"?!" Soma had to hold back a gulp in nervousness. Nothing went well for him or the First Unit when Fia craved for tea. But that nervousness was replaced by a new one as they came upon the closed-in entrance of the church. "What the?!"

"I knew that rumble was trouble!" Fia said in slight panicked, clawing at the rubble with her bare hands. "They could be stuck in there!"

"Calm down, Fia." Soma tried to soothed to her. "We don't know if they're really in there."

But a roar and a gun shot begged a differ. Changing in gun-mode in panic, Fia began firing at the debris.

"Dig Soma, dig. We gotta break through!"

"GH!" Soma grunted as he began to deliver crushing blows on the rubble.

"Daddy, what are you doing just standing there?! Help us get them out!"

"Oh that won't be necessary." Azar replied back. Keeping his distance, pistol in his hostel, and crossing his arms. "But you might wanna back up."

"?"

"!" But Soma sensed it, the build up of Oracle Cell activity on the other side. "Move!"

"?!" Fia blinked in confusion as Soma grabbed her by the middle and jumped back. Carrying her like a football as the close-in exploded open from the other side.

Blaise's cannon had cleared an opening for them on the other side. They had looked beat up, with a few scratches here and there and parts of their clothes ripped by what was most likely large teeth. Few splats of blood covered them as three Gboros laid dead on the chapel floor. Two missing chunks out of them, one looking like it was blown in half and the other looking like someone had taken a large bite out of it. The last one had it's mouth wide open, eyes missing, and piercing cuts all over it.

"Nice shot, Blaise!" Lindow complimented. "Where were you when I got stuck in here last time?"

"Nay it was nothing." Then Blaise looked through the dust cloud and saw the other three waiting at the entrance. "Oh, hey guys! Done with your mission already?"

"..." Soma was having a hard time taking what he was seeing all in. "... What... happened here?'

"Nothing." The twins said at the same time, earning a smirk from their dad as he looked at their work.

"Heh, that's my girls."

"More importantly, Soma." Lindow pointed out, changing into a teasing manner. "Why are you holding Fia like a football?"

"?!"

"Because he plans to score a touchdown."

"Shut the hell up, Fia!" Soma growled out in embarrassment.

"I take that back, apparently he plans to boot me."


	9. Chapter 9

Revenge is best served cold... that is if you can dish it.

Goddess's Revenge

Ugh, yesterday had been a long day for Soma. No not just him, for everyone in the First Unit in general. The Aragami had been restless, and the missions had been messy. At that moment in time, Soma was enjoying a relaxing shower before the day started. Kota was there as well, taking a shower in a separate showering area. He had oddly remained silent out of respect for the privacy of shower time. The warm droplets melted away all the tension they had since yesterday's mission... from the Aragami and Fia.

Fia, that woman would be the death of him. And yet she made him feel so alive. It was funny how she worked that way with him. Out of all the craziness she had taken while dealing with him and the First Unit since she joined, he could take her antics and her family. But little did Soma know, or Kota for that matter, a couple of little imps had enters the guys community shower. Quiet as mice, they snuck over to the boys clothes and took them to replace them with new ones. Giggling and snickering under the noise of running water, they snuck out without being detected. And now to hide the evidence...

*** A little later ***

Soma and Kota marched their way over to Fia's room as their hair still dripped from their showers. Soma was stomping his feet in frustration at the outfits they were forced to wear. Soma knew Fia was behind this, she's the only one in the Den that was so obsessed with playing dress up. But he was caught off guard by Fia's bold move, usually Fia would leave you alone when you entered the Community Showers whether the boys or the girls. It was one of her unsaid rules that the Showers were sacred grounds, all tricks or pranks were to be left outside. So for her to sneak into the guys Community Shower and steal their clothes was out of character for her and beneath her.

Without even knocking on the door he barged into her room, slamming the door open as he fumed in anger with Kota nervously not too far behind.

"!" She turned her head toward her door in surprise at the sudden intrusion. She sat on her couch, wearing a Judas Goth outfit as she held up a cup of tea. Her coffee table was bombarded with tea cups, a tea pot, and various snacks. Meaning that she was planning to have another one of her tea parties and she most likely intended for them to attend, in proper attire for her random occasion. But she seemed oddly surprised to see them there. "Hey guys! What a coincidence, I was just about to have tea party and was thinking I could use more guest. And you dressed up too! That's so sweet of you!"

"Cut the crap, Fia! You know why we're here!" Soma growled at her in anger and embarrassment. Trying to look as dignified as possible in the Butler suit she had forced on him... and the weird Bullfighter outfit she forced on Kota. It wasn't the fact that she got their measurements right, she had done stunts like this so many times that she got a feel for their size, it was the fact that she had most likely 'seen' them naked when she took their clothes. The idea itself made him red in embarrassment... and other things.

"?!" Fia tilted her head to the side. She seemed like she had no idea what he was talking about, but Soma thought it only good acting. "Pardon?"

"Come on, Fia." Kota insisted. "Just give us back our clothes."

"What? I don't have them." She replied, reaching for the table to grab an unused cup of tea. "Want some tea?"

"Cut the crap, woman. We know damn well you took them out of our Community Shower while we showered!" Soma was pissed, but not as pissed as Fia suddenly got. Her grip on the tea cup handle tighten as if insulted.

"Excuse me?! I would never do such a thing."

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Soma hissed in anger and hidden disappointment that she would lie to him. "This behavior is unacceptable and very disappointing! I expected better from you, Fia."

She slammed her tea cup to the table as she got up to face them. "How dare **you**! First of all I haven't left this room all day, I'm waiting for a call! Second, I don't lie and I don't go into the guys' showers! I have far too much respect for myself and the people around me! So don't you ever accuse me otherwise!"

"?!" She was getting far too angry for this to be an act. This almost seemed personal to her in Soma's eyes.

"But if you didn't do it, why are you having a tea party?" Kota asked, trying to break the storm cloud that spreading all around her.

"I was going to have a tea party with my sisters." She hissed out, pointing toward the long dresser by her bed. "It has been awhile and it's over due."

"Sisters?" But Kota was surprised when two little heads slowed popped out from behind the dresser. "!"

They had an evil smile on their face looking as guilty as sin. That's when the answer became clear to Soma.

"You!" Soma hissed out, pointing an accusing finger. The girls just giggled in silent admittance to the crime, leaning up all the way to rest their top halves on the dresser. It appeared they had dressed up as well, Lynn wearing the Cobalt Goth outfit while Nina sported a Crimson Goth outfit.

"We really wanted you guys to join us." Lynn reasoned as Nina followed it off.

"Besides, you guys look better in that anyway."

"You brats." Soma growled at them. "?!"

"Ow!" "Ouch!" The twins whined out as their big sister's fists came down on each of their heads in retribution. They clinched the top of their heads in pain as a traitor's tear escaped from an eye for each of them.

"What did I say about playing fair?!" Fia lectured to them in anger. "Do you want the boys to do the same to us?! The showers are neutral grounds!"

"Sis!" The girls pouted at their sisters disappointment coated in her voice.

"Did you see anything?"

"What?"

"Did. You see. Them naked?!"

"N-no!"

"Good, now give them back their clothes."

"But sis!" The twins whined out.

"Don't 'but sis' me. You didn't play by the rules, so give them their clothes."

"(Sigh) Fine..." The twins sighed out in acquiesce. Grabbing the clothes from their hiding places in their sister's cabinet they reluctantly returned them to their owners. Angered, Soma yanked his clothes from them while Kota simply grab his before the twins changed their minds. They turned to leave, but Fia had gotten up to block their exit, smiling with that innocently evil coating.

"Since you're already here, there's no need to leave so soon." Then her smile grew wider as a mischievous twinkle entered her eyes. "Why don't you guys stay for a cup of tea."

"?!"

"There's no way I'm suffering through another one of your damn tea parties in these insufferable clothes, woman!" Soma protested, but Fia pulled out her big guns.

"After you practically accused me of being a pervert, you owe me Soma."

"Ugh... damn."

*** later in the early afternoon ***

The tea party had gone on for a good couple of hours, the time was soon in the middle of lunch. The boys were tired of the whole thing, but they sucked it up and let the girls have their fun since they owed Fia. Doing his best to fight the boredom, Soma vouched to ask Fia some few questions. He would've rather wait to ask her when they were alone, be he guest that wouldn't be happening for a long while.

"Hey, Fia... your dad said something disturbing to me during yesterday's mission that I can't quite put my mind around..."

"Daddy says a lot of things like that." Fia teased before giving Soma her attention. "But what did he say?"

"He said something like if we do anything together without safety he would punch me... repeatedly." Soma elaborated in embarrassment. "I've got an 'idea' what it might mean, but I find it hard to believe that any father would be okay with their daughter doing 'that'."

"Oh, he meant exactly as you think." Fia nonchalantly answered, twirling her spoon in her tea as if she had just commented about the weather.

"What?!"

"After 17, dad doesn't care if we become sexually active. He just doesn't want us to turn him into an early grandpa."

"And your okay with this?! Seems a little lacking in care to me!"

"He trust in our judgement and in his ability at raising us. As long as he keeps the twins celibate I don't care."

"Ugh, your family..." Soma groaned out in exasperation.

"Hey, he's been doing a good job so far." Fia said in her dad's defense. "The girls are too terrified of Daddy to defy him."

"We're not scared of dad!" Nina shouted in defense. A mad blush came over their face at their sister calling them out like that. But Fia's grinned only grew wider as she looked at her sisters from the corner of her eyes.

"Really? Heh, if that's true then go give your Daddy a hug."

"!" The twins flinched on instinct, making them blush brighter at their bodies betrayal.

"Heh hahaha, I knew it! Heh ha, you guys are such pusses!"

"S-shut up. We would have totally done it if we didn't want to miss the call." Lynn said in their defense over Fia's laughter.

"They say girls tend to favor their fathers, but that's totally not the case with you two!" Fia laughed out, but that still brought up the neglected question from earlier.

"Who exactly are you waiting to call?" Kota asked what Soma was thinking. But Fia never answered the question as a chime from her Terminal told her that she was getting a live video mail.

"Oh! That must be her now." Fia said aloud to herself as she got up to answer the question.

"Mommy's calling!" The twins cheered as they jumped out of their seats to run over to the Terminal.

"Mommy?!" Soma and Kota repeated in disbelief. They almost couldn't believe that there was another Slade roaming about. But then again, the mother had to be around this world somewhere... this family was too big.

"Hi mother." "Hello, Mommy!" Fia and the twins greeted the woman on the other side with a big wave and a smile.

The woman remained mostly in shadows, hiding most of her facial features from few. But from what Soma could see from the video was that she had long coco brown hair that tied back into a tail-end ponytail. Her chocolate brown eyes shown through the shadow and her nice body rock passed the housewife dress and apron as she sat in a chair in a room that looked to be the living room. She lacked the armlet indicating that she was once a Gods Eater but she still had an air of intimidation that demanded respect... and fear.

Her grin shown through the shadow. "There's my sweet little dots. I trust everything is going well. But what's this? You're all together without me, this will never due." Her voice was as smooth as silk, but was laced with a hint of poison.

"Aw, mother, don't be jealous. This is only a temporary thing." Fia soothed to her mother.

"Ha haha, I can't help that, dear. It's in my nature." Their mother chuckled. "I wish you guys could come home more often. I miss our tea sessions."

"We'll have plenty of tea next time we come home. I might even bring some friends." Fia chirped, moving out of the way- to Soma's objection- to reveal Kota and Soma.

"Boyfriends?"

"Hell no." "No." Both of them objected, one more nervously than the other.

"Apparently one of them is the boy while the other is the friend." Fia teased at their fluster.

"Woman!" "Not cool."

"Heh haha, what charming boys. And well dressed, they must know how to truly have a tea party."

"!" Dear God, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"You'll have to have them meet me in person when you can, Fia. I dislike meeting new people in such an informal way as a video screen."

"As you wish, mother."

"Mommy!" Lynn chimed, leaving her sister to follow up.

"We miss you! We've been fighting a lot of Aragami lately."

"Whenever we'd kill one we do it for you."

"(Evil chuckle) Oh, that's nice." Their mother smiled back.

"?!" And apparently the spouses complemented the other. But what did the boys expect? You'd have to be a little crazy to tie yourself down to Azar and then mother his mad-tainted spawn.

"And how are your brothers doing? Not causing too much trouble are they? They've always had my reckless side."

"They're doing fine." Lynn answered before flinching fear. "But Daddy has been working us hard to the bone."

"Hardly," Fia corrected in complaint. "He's been working me to the bone. He's been going easier on the boys, and hardly messes with you two."

"Aw, he's starting to spoil you guys way too much." Their mother cooed out sadistically. "I think he might be going soft."

Soft?! That man was anything but soft. But like speaking of the devil he appeared. Bursting through the door with a kick as he dragged his tired sons on the floor by the foot. He had worked them to the bone with an early morning mission in the City of Mercy. Those two Fallen Chi-You and Caligula had given the boys a run for their money. It didn't help the situation that none of them had any medic training.

"Hey, Fia, get ready for tonight. We've got a revenge missio- Holy Shit is that Avani?!" He suddenly shouted in excitement. Dropping his sons' foots as he made his way to the Terminal with the biggest smile. Fia had backed into the wall on instinct, while the girls ran to cower behind the dresser. Leaving the boys out in the open and in Azar's way. Grabbing their shoulders, he tossed them to the side. "Get out of my way."

"Well, well, if isn't Azar." Their mother, Avani Slade, seductively cooed to their father as he stopped in front of the Terminal. "I miss your touch. It's been far too long since I've felt your skin on my own."

"You know it, Sweet cheeks. Makes me want to go home and warm our bed again with our bliss." The boys were getting extremely uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was going. They couldn't imagine how the girls were feeling, it was their parents after all.

"Ha, you're still at it. Didn't I already give you enough children."

"I don't give a damn, I'd still wreck you like when we were younger."

"Ooh, you always know what to say to turn me on."

"Oh dear God, mom!" Fia groaned out in disgust, while the twins made vomiting gestures. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Aw quit your complaining! How did you expect to be born? Why I remember the night each one of you were conceived." He then pointed at each of his kids, going from oldest to youngest as he gave the details of where. "The rumbles of Sector D14; Inside your grandparents' closet; the kitchen table; Noodle King."

"Ugh! Dad!" Fia complained holding in her barf, along with the others conscious in the room. Fia didn't know what she found worse, the fact that she was a closet baby or the fact her younger siblings were conceived on the the table she ate on a daily and her favorite restaurant in her Sector.

"Mr. Slade, if you please!" Soma growled out, demanding an end to this uncomfortable conversation.

"You're right, enough reminiscing about the past." Azar sighed, getting back to the task he set out to do at hand. "Instead, let's focus on the now. Fia, it would seem that our Venus Aragami has returned to the fight, **with a vengeance.**"

"Sounds lovely, Dad."

"It seems our lovely Argami is making its way to Aegis Island. We leave at nightfall." Then Azar turned to Soma. "You in, kid?"

"It's Soma." Soma growled out in irritation. "And no, I think I'm going to sit this one out."

"Oh what a pity. Well, I guess I can take Rangi along. The Squirt could use a little more action time." Then he turned to leave, going back to grab his sons' foots. "Be ready for tonight, Fia."

"Fia. Azar." Avani called out, stopping Azar in his tracks. Azar turned around with a giant grin on his face.

"Yes, Sugarlips." She smiled at the nickname.

"When you find the Aragami, and when you kill it, I want you to bring back its head so I can mount it on my wall and wake up to it everyday." Her jealous nature had come out when her husband had called the Aragami 'lovely.' And Azar loved every second of it.

"Oh sweet fucking Christ! I've missed you, woman!"

"Dad!"

"Fine, I'm going!" Azar sighed back, grabbing Blaise's and Rangi's foot and walking out.

"I think it's about time I leave too, dears. I need to take care of things since your father is unable to at the moment."

"Ew, mother!"

"(Chuckle) Interpret that however you like, I'm out. Bye." And with that, the video chat was disconnected.

"Boy, your mom sure is something, huh Fia." Kota commented trying to break free of the awkward moment.

"Ugh, tell me about it."

"How the hell did your parents ever meet?!" Soma asked, stunned at what had conversed in the room just moments ago.

"Actually during the Wall defense-break way back years ago." Fia explained, honestly answering his question. "Mom was a civilian at the time that dad had to evacuate all the residential area. But mom's defiant nature compelled her to stay and fight, even though all she had on her was a normal kitchen knife. Dad fell in love with the fire in her guts and her fighter's nature (sadistic nature is more like it)... and apparently that's the day Blaise was conceived."

"Oh God, Fia, too much information!" Kota cried out, trying to wipe the image from his mind's eyes.

"Say what you want, but I'm kinda jealous of the relationship they have."

"... What?"

"(Huff) Alright, you guys are free to go." Fia said, shooing them off. "I've got a mission to prepare for."

*** Aegis Island ***

"Glad to see you conscious, Rangi." Fia teased at him as they jumped off the Starting Point platform. This was a special mission since it was being recorded by FBS's (Fenrir Broadcasting System) news. So it was the utmost importance that they be on their best behavior. But none of them really gave a damn.

"Shut the fuck up, Fia. I was just tired, is all."

"Ha! You were tired over a mission like 'that'? I've faced worse odds multiple times than that, alone. Oh deary me, you really need this training, little brother."

"Oh go suck a dick, Fia."

"Not until the world sucks mine!"

"Oh not this again! You still use that insult?"

"Only for rainy days."

"Enough you two." Their father barked, pulling out his pistol. "Our prey is here."

A shriek rang out through the arena as the Venus came jumping down from the platform. The head charged toward them right when it landed in the arena. Fia and Rangi pulled out their shields and faced the Venus head on while their father dashed out of the way. Not one to be taken lightly, the Venus charged up a corrosive sphere in its hands and sunk it into the ground were it tried to break their defenses.

Frustrated that its attack didn't go through it tried again, only to be halted by one of Fia's Stun Grenades. "Keep your eye on the birdy."

FLASH

SHRIEK

"Die!" Rangi cried out as he slashed at its front.

"Just a bite!" Fia shouted at the Venus as she took a Devouring bite out of it. Feeling the burst, she turned to her family and shot them Team-bullets. "Let's go crazy guys!"

"Yes!" Rangi approved of the extra power boost flowing through h for the first time. Going through a berserker of slashes.

"Ahh, and here I thought things couldn't get any better!" Azar grinned as he jumped on the Venus's back to shoot at its oracle bulges.

Panicking the Venus backed up, smacking into Fia.

"Ugh, talk about a mad back hand!"

Suddenly the horns in its front extended and it started ramming at them. Actually breaking through Rangi's shield, knocking him to the floor.

"That hurt."

"I know, right?! This chick packs a punch!" Suddenly the Venus extended spears from its side oracle bulges, smacking around and slicing Fia. The Venus got a good slice around Fia's collarbone. "Ow!"

"You're going to pay for that, asshole." Rangi hissed at the Venus for getting a good slice on his sister. He was going in for a strike when the Venus charged a divine spark attack around it, making the hairs on Rangi stand up. "What?!"

"Girl please!" Fia sassed back at the Venus firing at the oracle bulge on its back leg, knocking it to the ground.

"Fia?!" He didn't know if his sister was alright. Her blood was mixing with the fabric.

"Don't just stand there! Come on, we gotta take it out before it gets up again."

"I highly doubt that's going to happen, Fia."

"Believe, you sour puss!"

"Hmph."

Rangi went to attack its human front while Fia shot at the side and their father circled around. But the Venus did rise back to its feet again and sent a corrosive infernal up from the ground around. Knocking the kids to the ground as the dad jumped back. They had destroyed a number of its Oracle bulges, the Venus was enraged. It circled around, smacking Via back toward her brother.

"Rangi!"

"Go!" Rangi encouraged to her, pulling out his shield. Fia's feet had landed on the shield which she used as a spring to jump back at the Venus. "Fly!"

"Thanks Rangi!" She quickly shouted at her brother before changing in the blade-mode. Flying at the Venus, she went for the killing blow. The whole thing would be a glorious finish for humanity... if it wasn't for the last part. "Suck on my invisible balls!"

"..." She just had to say that on National TV. Rangi had to shake his head in disapproval at his sister's last choice of words as the Venus shrieked out its last breath. Falling to the ground with his sister's God Arc impaled in its chest. Extracting the core while the blade was inside, Fia yanked it out.

"You just had to say it, didn't you."

"What? It's been a long time since I've had a rainy day."

"You could've thought of better last lines. Anything other than- Dad, what the hell are you doing?!" Rangi shouted in shock as their dad went over to the Venus's human part, grabbed its hair out of the way, and pointed his pistol at its...

"O-okay, folks. This just turned rated R and inappropriate for children under 18." Fia nervously said, blocking out the camera with her hand.

BANG! BANG!

"Good God, Dad!" Rangi shouted at something, but Fia had tossed the camera so it hovered around the backside of the Venus. Rangi had a face of disgust while their dad had a big-ass grin, holding onto something in his other hand.

"What? Your mother wanted this." Putting his pistol back in its hostel and started walking off. "Well that settles that, I'm going home."

"The hell dad?! What about the mission?!" Fia called out as Azar just walked off.

"Fuck it, that's what. The targets dead and I've got a delivery to make. Byeee!" And like that he was gone.

"Damn, we should really get a leash on that guy." Rangi sighed, turning his head back and forth as he cradled his nose in between his fingers. "Ugh, HQ is gonna ride our asses about this."

"Man, I wish I can have a marriage like theirs one day."

"... Sis... I will never understand what goes on in your mind."

"It's best not to try. It'll save you a load of headaches."


	10. Chapter 10

Only a mad man can get excite when the odds are turned against them. But from crazy deeds comes the build of courage.

Merciless Guardians

The walk back to the Den was a slow delaying process for the two siblings. They knew the trouble they were going to face for just letting their dad walk away like that on national television. It was one of those rare moments in history where both Old Model, Old Type, and New Type Gods Eater worked together in a common mission. It was suppose to be an epic display of mankind's triumphs, but it had turned into a joke. The whole thing was an embarrassment to Fenrir in an authority level and it gave the public the view of seeing the God Eaters as barbaric. Honestly, if it was just the cursing that would have been more acceptable. It was a common human nature to use profanity, that only would have given Fenrir God Eaters a more human feel. But when Azar just took the head of the Venus and blatantly walked away it became a symbol of monstrosity.

Fia did a good job hiding what her father did, but it only left it to ones imagination what happened behind that hand. And to make matters worse, people would be imagining him walking among them as we speak. The fear of the blood-lust he displayed would lead to a panic among the public, they wouldn't see him as their brutal defense against the Aragami. They'd see him as a possible double edged sword. But Fenrir should have expected this the moment they put a camera on a Slade during a mission, especially on Azar. It would take a lot of work to repair the damage they had done to Fenrir's relationship to the public.

"Fia Slade, what do you have to say for yourself?!" Came the lovely but still booming voice of Tsubaki. They had finally made it back to the Den with Tsubaki and everyone in the First Unit waiting for them. Damn... they should've walked slower. Their father didn't really give a damn about the authority, but Fia actually care about these people. And to be honest, her father outranked all of them anyway.

"Uhh..."

"Your language during that mission was unacceptable, and your father's actions were appalling."

"Honestly, Tsubaki, if I'm going to possibly die in one of these missions one day I'd like for my last words not to be censored."

"!" Her answer had caught them all off guard. They never thought she thought about these things before, it was too dark for her. Not her usual sadistic dark, but the morbid dark. "Still, I expected better from you, Fia. You're too stubborn to die in battle anyway."

"Ha! You're right. I'll probably die choking on chocolate long before the Aragami ever take me out." Fia morbidly laughed about.

"Fia, please!" Tsubaki silently ordered to cease this negative topic. It wasn't good for moral, especially coming from the Den's First Unit Leader, and it wasn't good for herself. She couldn't imagine a world with the crazy brat no longer there to spread mayhem and keep them on their toes.

"Ugh, you're right. Enough of this distasteful topic. But I honestly didn't think my language was that distasteful."

"You told an Aragami to suck your inivisible balls."

"Heh hahaha! Yeah, I did, and she did suck them... so hard!"

"..." All remained in awkward silence for the First Unit at their leader's beyond bazaar behavior.

"Honestly, brat, what does that even mean?" Tsubaki sighed out.

"Ugh, it's her old take on Freud's theory of Penis Envy." Rangi tiredly answered.

"..."

"... What?" Soma finally asked, opening the flood that Fia seemed to have been holding back.

"It was the founding father of psychoanalysis's theories that women supposedly wished to have a penis which would cause feelings of inferiority and psychic conflict. This would be later known as Penis Envy. Although the theory had long been dis-proven, I play on the joke that women make up for this envy by the making of an invisible penis which becomes a mental and physical presence in itself. And depending on the characteristics of the female characterizes its size. The ballzy the female, the bigger the invisible dick." Fia explained in one big swoop of air, excited and giddy.

"... You are so weird... on so many levels..." Was all Soma could say to her, but it only made her giggle more.

"Why thank you very much, Soma. Means I'm not boring."

"Enough of this." Tsubaki barked out the order. "You two, why didn't you stop your father?"

"You speak as if we 'could' stop him." Rangi grunted out with a chuckle.

"?!"

"He's stronger than us, Tsubaki." Fia explained. "We cannot stop his actions by force nor are we his keepers. He may listen to us on occasion, but that is only by his choice and his choice alone. Blaise and the twins are here with you for a reason, they are use to dad's antics and are just waiting for him to come back on his own."

"Ugh, and where is he now?"

"Probably getting laid."

"Fia!" "Ugh, Sis!" Tsubaki and Rangi yelled at her at the same time.

"What? You wanted the truth, the truth is nasty. He is most likely at home with mom, getting it on. I'm as disgusted by saying that as you are hearing that, they are my parents after all."

"Then we have to go get him back."

"No need for that, Tsubaki. He'll come back on his own... in a better mood." Fia insisted. "I suggest we'd just leave him be for now."

"Never knew you were such a pervert, Sis." Rangi mocked, much to Fia's tired un-amusement.

"Shove it, Kitchen Table." She shot back at him.

"?!" Rangi didn't get it, but Soma and Kota did. And they were fighting whether to hold in the laugh or be embarrassed.

"Hey, Tsubaki, if we're finished. I'd like to go to sleep." Fia yawned at the end of her sentence, proving that she was tired. Whether physically or mentally would be left up to interpretation.

"You still need to be punished, as the one representing the Far East Branch the responsibility fell to you, and the fault. So for the next week your tea rations are withheld."

"(Sigh) That seems fair enough."

"And your First Love Juice is banned from you for four days."

"Oh come on! That's just cruel and unusual punishment!"

"Tough luck for you." Tsubaki smirked at finding Fia's weakness. That information would be good to have if she ever turns into her father.

*** The Next Morning ***

The next morning was a groggy wake-up for Fia. Her morning tea had been halted until next week an all her First Love Juice and their soda machines have been closed off to her. Tsubaki had sent Sakuya to sweep her room of all the First Love Juice and tea she had. Sakuya looked apologetic as she worked, but she continued doing her duty to the best of her ability. Telling Fia that she'd hold on to them for now until Fia could get them back... and she'd make sure Lindow didn't drink the First Love Juice.

Fia had let Sakuya leave with her precious morning elixirs without a fight or protest. Because unknown to her Unit, she had a secret stash. She kept a couple of First Love Juice cans between her mattresses as an emergency stash. She can put them in the fridge to cool them down right now, since everyone was most likely still asleep. If she rationed them out, she could probably last for the four days she has to.

But as her hand felt around between her mattresses she came up with nothing. Panicking, her eyes widened as she became wide awake. Jumping off the bed, she felt around between the mattresses with her whole arm. When she still felt nothing, she used both arms. Having enough, she lifted up her top mattress, the news crushed her hope... Nothing... there was nothing there. Her emergency rations were gone! But how?! No one could have possibly known about them. Who could have possibly found them-

"Soma!" She hissed off.

Rising to her feet, she stomped toward his room without care she was still in her pajamas or her wild bed hair. He was the only one with the possible knowledge of their whereabouts. And the only one with the skill to detect and extract them without her knowledge. Without even knocking she burst into Soma's room, looking as mad as a cat stuck in the rain as she slammed the door shut. Soma was shocked awake by the sudden intrusion, but it turned into a smirk when he realized it was her.

"Took you long enough."

"How did you know? When did you take them?"

"Regardless of the answer you're not getting them!"

"You!" Fia growled at him only making him smirk wider.

"You can't cheat your way out of a punishment, Fia. What kind of teammate would I be if I let you?"

"An awesome one!" She retorted back. "And what kind of teammate breaks into another teammates' room while they're asleep?!"

"Heh, think of it as payback, Kettle."

"I want my juice back." Fia demanded.

"You're not getting them back." Soma remained defiant.

"Fine, there are other ways to make you talk."

"?!" Soma's eyes widened as she walked over to his counter... toward his coffee maker. "What are you doing?"

"Tell me where you hid my First Love Juice?"

"No."

"(Sigh)," She let out a long tired breath as she grabbed his mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. It was an automatic coffeemaker, as long as you put in the coffee beans the day before it would automatically start making a batch of coffee at the set time. And this coffee was freshly made only minutes ago. Taking a sip she let the hot liquid flow down her throat much to Soma's vexation.

"!"

"Ooh, it's bitter." Fia idly commented, playing with Soma's irritation as she drank the whole cup. He usually would sweeten his coffee with the sugar ration he had in the cabinet under the counter, but Fia was in too much of a rush to bend down and get it. "Personally I'm more of a Vanilla Mocha person. Soooo, are you going to tell me where my juice is or are we going to keep going?"

"No." Soma hissed out.

"(Sigh)." She poured herself another cup, swirling it around in his mug to get on Soma's nerves as she slowly drank it. "I can do this all day if I have to, Soma. Either way I'm gonna get my morning caffeine. The question is are you?"

"Grr!" Soma growled at her as she poured the last cup of coffee from the can into his mug. The nerve of this woman, she had the guts to come into his room and drink his coffee out of his own damn mug!

"Last chance, Soma. I would hate for you to have to tap into your tomorrow's ration."

"Like hell I am!" He yelled at her, jumping out of his bed to take his mug from her. But she played keep away, leaning it away from him as far as her arm could as he trapped her between him and the counter. "Give it to me."

"No!"

"Give me my damn coffee, woman!"

"Give me back my FLJ!"

"No!"

"Then say cheerio to your coffee!"

"Like hell!" He leaned in to her with more vigor as he tried to get his mug back, forcing Fia to bend onto the counter. She stretched to her tippy-toes trying to keep Soma away, but he was persistent and slightly taller than her. He was closing in on her when Kota barged into the room.

"Yo, Soma! We've got a mission today with Fia, so get-"

"!" Soma froze like a deer caught in a headlight as Kota froze in shock. Soma had Fia in a questionable position, and didn't help the matter that she was in her usual pajamas.

"Soma... what's going on here...?"

"This isn't what it looks like." He tried to defend, but Fia had placed his mug in his face and on his lips for a forced sip.

"Like hell it is!" Fia huffed back. Shoving the mug in his hands and pushing Soma away from her with a bump from her hip. "This jerk stole my stash and I am retaliating."

"Heh, it's not stealing if you aren't suppose to even have it."

"Is it not breaking-and-entering if your not breaking anything as you enter?" She retorted back.

"Clam it, brat." Soma huffed out, leaning back into the counter. "We've got a mission to get to."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the City of Mercy, I got it. I got the email last night, yah jerk." Fia waved off, still angry that she wasn't getting her FLJ this morning. Stomping her feet as she passed Kota for the door. "Jokes on you, Soma. You guys are the one that'll have to deal with me when I go through withdrawal."

"?!"

"What was that all about?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You guys having your first couple's quarrel?" Kota teased.

"Grr, can it, Kota."

*** Day 1 ***

"We got another mission dealing with those Ravana again, Fia." Kota nervously pointed out. She was getting edgy and she was getting worse with each passing hour. As they all noticed when they gathered together to have dinner in the Mesh Hall. Her fingernails were tapping into the table and her legs were restless like a crickets. Didn't help much that her face was angrily scrunched up. "It's just like yesterday in the Wailing Plains. Only this time we're dealing with one."

"Not those damn spider-dogs again! I hate those Ravanas!" Fia ranted. "Those cheap bastards always play dirty! And run around like crackheads high on PCP! If you say I have to fight another one of those fuckers again today, I'm going to kick your balls!"

"S-sorry!" Kota nervously whimpered out. "I-if it makes you feel any better, its only one of them and two Fallen Kongou."

"That makes it worse! Now I have to worry about Aragami rolling on me and leaping at me tonight?! (Sigh) God, I need a FLJ."

"Tough luck, woman."

"Screw you, Soma." She growled at him which he returned with another growl.

"Bite me, woman."

CHOMP

"!" She actually bit him... in the ear.

"Hey, that taste awfully familiar..."

"!"

"No time to dwell on it now." Fia sighed out, getting up from her seat. "Come on, Kota. Let's get this over with."

"Wait!" Sakuya called out, getting out of her seat along with Alisa.

"We'll come along too." Alisa replied. "It'll be hard on you guys without a medic with how cold it gets in the Tranquil Temple."

"Sure, the more the merrier." Fia consented as they all left the Mesh Hall for a longs night mission. Leaving Lindow and Soma alone at their table.

"..."

"I think she remembers your taste."

"Shove it, Lindow."

*** Day 2 ***

Fia had a mission with Lindow coming up soon. But she made no move to find him, or even leave her room. Her temper was rising and her withdrawal was getting worse. She had taken it upon herself to lock herself in her from to avoid others so they wouldn't suffer her unjust retaliation. She was laying on her room floor in a cold sweat as Lindow came to get her.

"Fia... come out of there." Lindowe tiredly ordered through Fia's door. Fia had locked herself in her room all day, moaning and rolling all over the room's floor.

"Ugh..."

"Those Zygotes won't take care of themselves, you know."

"Ugh...!"

"Come on, it'll just be me and you, champ. You won't have to deal with people much today."

"Ugh, God... why did you have to make my punishment so evil?!"

"Aw, it's not that bad."

"Lindow, I want some FLJ. I 'need' some FLJ. My mornings are nightmares without it."

"I think you might be an addict."

"Says the man that can't go a day without a can of beer."

"Ouch."

"Ugh."

"It's only two more days, hang in there, kiddo."

"Is my asshole of a father back yet?"

"No."

"Damn..."

CLINK

"Well, let's get this over with so I can return to wallowing in pain again." Fia groaned out, opening her door to accept the challenge of the day. "Let's send those Zygotes to church."

"That's the spirit!" Lindow encouraged to the last part.

*** Day 3 ***

Fia had been sent on another mission to the City of Mercy again, along with Soma, Kota, and her brother Blaise. Apparently, they were going to take down four of this new breed of Aragami that Fenrir had dubbed Yaksha Raja. Fia had never seen these Aragami before, nor did she have any idea of what she was dealing with. She was mad, cranky, and caffeine deprived. This was not going to be a fun mission. Fia didn't know what she was more upset about, the fact the Branch sent them to face an unknown Aragami without a Medic or the fact she was going on day three without her FLJ.

"So, ah, Fia... you feeling any better?" Kota nervously asked.

Her only response was to smash her head into the building to her left at the Starting Point, leaving crater in its wall. She looked frustrated as a small trail of blood leaked from her forehead. "Roaarrr!"

"Idiot! You didn't have to do that!" Soma growled at her in anger. But he still went up to her and wiped the blood from her face. "The mission hasn't even started and you're already bleeding. Clean yourself up, for pities sake."

"Hmph," she huffed out. Taking a Recovery Pill for the minor damage. "Never knew you were such a worry-wort, Soma."

"Save the sarcasm for another time."

"I'll stop when I get my damn caffeine fix." She growled back at Soma, thrusting her God Arc point into the ground as the other hand clawed into the wall.

"C-come on, Fia, buck up. You're already halfway done with your sentence. Just don't think about your cravings and you'll fine. It's eas-"

"If you so much as finish that bull of a sentence I'll BREAK INTO YOUR ROOM AND BURN ALL YOUR BURGURALLY FIGURINES!"

"Eep!" Kota squeaked, silencing immediately at her threat and taking a step back. Coming at her from behind, Blaise lifted her off the ground and into a bear hug. Rocking her slowly side to side, soothingly as she seethed from her teeth.

"Easy, Fifi, easy. Think of happy things. Kittens"

"..."

"Chocolate."

"..."

"Taking out all your frustrations on the Aragami."

"!" That one hit the mark. "Ooh, that does sound nice."

"So, are you calm? You're not going to bite the poor boy's head off?"

"(Sigh) No, I'm rather fond of Kota. I'd miss him once he was gone." Slowly her brother lowered her back on the ground and released her. Once free she pulled out her God Arc from the ground and turned to Kota. "Sorry for snapping at you. I'm just testy from the lack of my addiction."

"No worries man. It's all good!" Kota happily grinned at her sincerity.

"Right! I don't know about you guys, but I'm itching for a fight. So let's get this party started!" She cheered out, jumping off of the Starting Point.

"Hey wait!" "Slow down, sis." Soma and Blaise said at the same time. The boys immediately jumped down after her.

"You don't even know where the Aragami are!" Kota reasoned to her.

"They're to the left."

"?!" "!" Kota and Blaise were shocked by her blatant answer. Soma was just shocked that she was correct.

"You can't possibly know that." Kota shot back.

"They are in that direction." Fia insisted, taking the left direction in the alleyway. Her eyes widening with excitement as her smile turned into an evil grin. "My Aragami senses are tingling!"

"Jeez, you're starting to sound just like Soma."

"Hey!" Soma grunted in protest. "If anything she sounds like her dad."

"Don't insult me, Soma." Fia huffed in offense. "I am my own entity, with my own unique individuality."

ROAR

"And I was right!"

"Holy crap! What is that?!" Kota shouted as they saw a Yaksha Raja for the first time.

"Looks like the Aragami are starting to take on a more Gods Eater form." Soma analyzed.

"Looks like more of reptile-man with a cannon attached to its arm." Fia suggested.

"Let's give'em hell." Blaise shouted as he readied his cannon God Arc. "We'll see whose cannon is stronger."

"I've got your back!" Kota shouted as he began to fire.

"Back me up." Soma said to Fia as she changed to gun-mode for a test run.

"It seems top heavy, aim for its legs." Fia suggested to Soma. She may have been loopy about other things but when it came to strategy she was brilliant.

"Yeah," Soma nodded to her as he began to charge at the Aragami. Taking her advice, he sliced at its feet. And like she said, it was top heavy, it came tumbling on its knees after three heavy strikes at the back of its knees. Rising to its feet again, it jumped into the air to fire a divine cannon ball at Soma, who dashed out of the way.

"Okay, so what mode's going to work for you?" Fia asked to the Aragami as she fired at it. Like answering her question it aimed at her. Shooting an attack that hit her at her long distance and even created its own sonic boom. "Blade-mode it is then."

Changing into blade-mode she rushed at the Aragami, slashing at it along with Soma. This Aragami had a habit of reloading and firing at the air to make a corrosive molten attack come from the ground. But they both were able to dodge it with ease. And they were able to keep its attention off of Kota and Blaise, making it go down a lot quicker with the extra fire.

"All right! We managed to survive today too!" Kota cheered.

"Don't let your guard down. There's still more here." Soma informed a he and Fia extracted the core.

"What?! Really? How many?"

"Three." Soma, Fia, and Blaise answered at the same time, making them look at each other questionably. "?!"

ROAR

"Who's up for round two?" Fia cutely asked making the two finger sign with her free hand.

"This one's... different." Kota nervously put to words.

"This must be the real Yaksha Raja." Fia explained. "The one before must've been just a Yaksha, a weaker version."

"Man, talk about a handful." Soma sighed out.

"Tell me about it," replied Fia. "Lucky bastard not only got cannon holding arms, but also beastly clawed arms and awesome horns on top of that."

"..." She sounded so envious, it was almost hilarious.

"What?"

"Nothing..."

ROAR

"Great, another Yaksha." Soma signed out.

"The more the better. Makes the mission go by quicker." Fia stated on the bright side. "Blaise, Kota, take care of the Yaksha. Me and Soma got the Yaksha Raja."

"Alright!" "You got it!" Kota and Blaise confirmed as they began to fire for the Aragami's attention. Kota's missiles aiming for the head, while Blaise's cannons stayed toward the legs to knock it down.

"This one seems top heavy too, focus on the legs and avoid the claws." Fia instructed to Soma as they focused on their target.

"Right." Soma nodded as they both dashed toward the Yaksha Raja. It had the claw 1-2-3 strike of the Hannibal which was easier to Dodge since the movement was familiar to them. But when the Aragami let out a divine blast sphere around it, that's when it caught them off guard. "Move!"

"Ah!" Fia cried out as they weren't able to jump back at Soma's warning in time and ended up be blasted back by the attack.

"Damn it!" Soma hissed as they both got back on their feet. Seeing it charge at her, Fia pulled her shield out at the last second. Blocking an upper claw attack, the force pushing her back a little.

"Whoa!"

"Rotten piece of meat!" Soma growled at it, devouring into its back leg which knocked it to its knees.

"Nice one, Soma." They continued to slash at it, relentlessly, until Fia delivered the final charged blow. "Don't get up."

At last, it was down. So was Kota's and Blaise's target as they final took it down by the time Fia and Soma extracted the core from theirs. Fia and Soma ran to them to extract the core.

"One more left, right?" Kota asked.

"Yeah..."

"It's by Sector H!" Fia informed as she detected it on her radar. They were in the top right corner of Sector D, making it an easy run. "And its a Yaksha too! This must be our day!"

"Get them!" Soma instructed as he charged at the Aragami with Fia.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Blaise runner as he began to fire.

It wasn't much of a challenging they've only seen how this Aragami fights for less than a day and yet they already master how to fight it. This new breed of Aragami was big, but they only prove the old saying 'the bigger they are the harder they fall.' It was Kota who got the kill shot in the end.

"All right! Did you guys see that?! I was awesome!"

"Yes, yes. An amazing shot Kota." Fia congratulated him as her and Soma took out the core.

"We were totally awesome back there! We make a great team, we were totally in sync!" Kota said getting pumped up.

"Heh, yeah." Blaise agreed. "We did pretty good for a team that lacks a medic."

"Hey, hey, now. I have some training in the medic field." Fia pointed out.

"Yeah, enough to kiss our boo-boos." Soma teased with a smirk.

"Hey, it's kept you alive so far. Speaking of which." She said, dropping down a Recovery Wall and pushing Soma into it. While her and the other guys simply walked in-and-out of it. "If you want, I'll kiss your boo-boo later."

"Oh kiss my-"

"My, you guys sure look like you had fun." Interrupted the voice of Azar.

"!" They turned to see him sitting on top of the roof of the building to the left of the church.

"Dad, about time you came back!"

"Sorry, Sweetie. I had a previous engagement to take care of that I found hard to tear away from." He said with dark glee.

"Ugh, we don't need to know. God, I can still see the after glow, it tells it all."

"Heh..Soooo, did I miss anything?"

"A lot, actually." Fia informed, counting down the events with her fingers. "We got to fight a Ravana, we just got done fighting the Yaksha Raja breed, AND I got punished for your bull."

"Oh, come on! Sounds like you guys had all the fun while I was away."

"Serves you right for leaving me and Rangi to clean up your mess!" Fia huffed back.

"Aw, is Daddy's Little Helper angry today?" He cooed back at her, jumping into the arena to join them.

"Damn right I am! I lost my caffeine supply for a week because of you! I miss my First Love Juice." She whined out the last part.

"Well, you'll survive another day without it." He grinned, bending his top half to lean in toward her.

"Ugh, you're so heartless."She groaned out.

"Yeaahhh, I'm out." Blaise said, washing his hands of this and headed back to the Starting Point. He hated the noise Fia made when she cried and he didn't want to stick around to see her make it now.

"Hey, wait up!" Kota called out to him, following after Blaise. Fia was stomping not too far behind them. Soma was about t follow suit.

"Hey kid." Until Azar called out to him in that way that always had him irritated.

"Grh! I told you, it's Soma." But his anger soon turned to confusion as Azar tossed him a can of First Love Juice, which he caught on instinct. "?!"

"I'll let you decide what to do with it." Was all Azar said before rushing off back to the Den in his own direction.

"..." He looked at the can for a second before putting it in his coat pocket. Catching up to the others he saw that Fia was a good distance behind the others. Making her the easiest to catch up to. "Hey..."

"What?" She replied tiredly, but came to life when Soma held out a can of First Love Juice to her. "!"

"Here... you wanted this, right."

"Y-yes!" She quickly snatched the can from him in fear that he might change his mind. Opening the can and taking a chug, she savored every sip she took. It was like heaven running in her mouth. A relief for a thirst that felt like it lasted for years instead of days. She was quenched, she was freed, she was saved... by her savor. "Soma!"

"!" He grunted in surprise as she jumped him by his side as she held herself off the ground by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Thank you so much. My hero." She cooed to him as she rubbed her cheek against his. He began to grow flustered.

"To be fair, it was actually your dad who got the First Love Juice."

"Really?" But the information only made her kiss him on the cheek. "Then that makes the gesture all the more sweeter from the both of you."

"?!"

"You didn't have to give it to me if dad handed it to you. But you did anyway, regardless of my punishment continuation." She gave him an extra squeeze as her voice softened with endearment as she rested her cheek on his. "Thanks for caring about my suffering, Soma. Most would pay it no mind. It means the world to me that you did."

"... Don't worry about it..." Soma couldn't look at her as the blush came onto his face. Her father's actions were a mystery to him. Either the man was the greatest dad or the worse. His actions where either brought on to win back the favor of his daughter after his wrongings while also making Soma look good or to mess with his mind as he held the choice of things were to go in the long run. But it could still be the bad move of the worse dad ever as his actions lead his daughter in the arms of a boy.


	11. Chapter 11

One can never get bored with a variety.

A New Breed of Show Down

"Soooo."

"What?"

"Do you think I can go out to find a Ravana and one of those Yaksha Raja?"

"No."

"Oh come on!"

"Daddy, the possibly of finding them on your own, let alone together, is slim to none. You'd just be going out to go for a stroll." Fia explained to her father as they sat on the benches in the snack area of the Veteran's Floor. She had been trying to keep him from wondering off ever since Tsubaki had a fit at his return and his lack of care only made her temper worse. She's still feeling Tsubaki's wrath because of him, she didn't need him to add on to it. She had almost had him submitting to her reasoning when Alisa stormed onto the Floor from the elevator.

"We've got an emergency mission at Aegis Island!" Alisa explained. "A Ravana, some Yaksha Raja, and even a Caligula showed up on radar."

"..." Fia had remained silent as her father flashed her a knowingly grin. She really didn't want to deal with this tonight. She had just gotten done with a challenging mission that day, and the day had turned out to be a good day so she wanted it to end like that. But it would seem that fate had other plans in mind. Well if she had to deal with this let down, she didn't want to deal with it alone. "(Sigh) Go get Soma. We're leaving right now."

"Right!" Alisa replied before running down the hall to Soma's room. The knowing grin never leaving Azar's face.

"See, everything works out for those who wish it in the end. Heh ha, funny how the Aragami come to me."

"Ugh, fine, you were right! Can we get this mission over with?!"

But he only showed his teeth when he grinned as he cocked his God Arc pistol in reply. "The night is still young, Sweetie."

*** Aegis Island ***

"Why did you drag me into this?" Soma groaned as they jumped down from the Starting Point.

"Because you're one of the few who's had experience fighting these guys." Fia answered.

"Again, why did you drag me into this?"

"Because you're one of the few who's had experience fighting these guys with the most fitting skill."

"Hmph, point taken..."

"Enough with your blabber, you two." Azar interrupted, reading his God Arc as the first Aragami jumped into the scene. "My trigger finger is itching!"

The Yaksha Raja was the first to jump into the arena, its Yaksha counterpart soon followed suit. Then seconds later the Ravana came in along with the Caligula. Azar was practically tingling with excitement.

"Let's finish them off!" Alisa encouraged, readying her gun-mode.

"What is the course of action you would suggest in this situation Fia?" Her father asked as if reviewing a lesson. And Fia didn't even miss a beat, as if the info was embedded in her head.

"The greatest option is to eliminate the weaker threat, thus decreasing the numbers of enemy and chances of damage. It is best to focus on the weak first, the strong soon follow suit."

"Heh, good girl."

"Let's take out the Yaksha Rajas first. Then we can focus on Caligula and Ravana." Fia strategised. "Alisa, keep an eye out for the Ravana, it appears to have the same fighting pattern as a Prithivi Mata."

"Got it!"

"This is going to be an amazing show down." Azar commented before the Aragami began to charge at them.

Like Fia warned, they had to watch out for the pouncing Ravana. Aside from the constant dodging and rolling, the Yaksha Raja went down pretty quick.

"Soma, shields up!" Fia warned as the Caligula came in from the side with a blizzard attack. The ones that could, put up their shield, while Fia dashed to her father to shield him. A chill filled the arena as snow began to dance around them.

"Ooh, is it Christmas already?" Azar teased.

"Hmph, not like you give any good presents." Fia mocked back.

"What? I give out the best presents."

"Giving your daughter the decapitated head of an Orgetail for her ninth Christmas is way off the mark for best gift giver."

"You said that they were cute."

"Yeah, I also said that about puppies, that doesn't mean you have to go out and bring me back their heads like a cat!"

"Bah! Kids these days, they're never appreciative!"

"Can it you two!" Soma jumped in to the two's argument, ending it as the Caligula's wings receded with the attack "Its getting ready to attack again!"

"Hmph, poor sport." "Fun killer." Both Fia and Azar huffed at Soma.

"Just get them already!" Soma growled at the two's antics.

Jumping into the fray, they charged at the Caligula while Alisa kept the Ravana off their backs. Making the Caligula go down quicker than they first expect. Fia didn't even have to use a Stun Grenade either. However, like expected, the Ravana but up more of a fight.

The Ravana continued trying to pounce on them, occasionally flame torching at them with the large cannon on its back. Dodging it, Soma destroyed its leg armor while Fia went straight for the head armor. Getting angry, it charged up a blaze attack which it surrounded itself with.

"Get back!" Alisa warned as they all jumped back.

"Heh, this cat is on fire!" Azar chuckled. Then he went for the killing shot that took the Ravana down. "Head shot!"

"Brilliant shot, dad..." Fia complemented as they stared in disbelief.

"Ahh, and with that, the kitty is down."

"Mission cleared...good job everyone... I guess." Alisa complimented with the struggle, seeing how the mission went down.

"Honestly, I don't know whether this mission was ball'n or a huge disappointment. As much as that fight was a rush, it was faaarrr too short."

"Sorry the mission did not meet to your blood-lust expectation." Fia said in sarcasm.

"Well there's always next time."

"Can we go now?" Soma groaned.


	12. Chapter 12

Never judge a book by its cover, you may be surprised by its content.

Daddy's Little Madians

At last, Fia's ban from FLJ was lifted. And not a moment too soon, her buzz from the last can Soma snuck her was wearing off and her withdrawal systems were coming back. Tsubaki had decided to test Fia and Azar to see whether Fia's punishment should be extended or not. Fia and her dad were given another broadcasted mission at Aegis Island. HQ had found it humorous to call this mission 'Harvest Festival'.

But the mission had been a disaster in itself. It wasn't that Azar and Fia conducts were inappropriate, they were surprisingly on their best behavior. But it was how the job was done that made the situation bad, for all over the world all the fellas that watched the live mission got an awkward boner.

Fia wasn't trying anything, really, she was just acting how she usually did when she got hyped up for a fight. But it was the soundtrack in the background that enhanced the things about Fia they hadn't noticed before at the Den. Ciara played in the background as she slowly walked toward the Aragami, as it serenade her curves that most failed to notice. Her God Arc rested on her shoulders as her hips swayed to the song, a natural gloss came to her lips and half-lidded eyes. It also didn't help that she decided to wear black heels with her normal outfit to click to the beat.

'All the boys all on me

Damn

Everybody pay attention

This right here is my'

Then she pulled her God Arc out from its resting spot as she began firing at the Aragami in a regular firing that seemed to look so seductive.

'Pretty girl swag

Pretty girl swag'

Then she brought a hard elbow on an Aragami that came too close, knocking it back.

'Pretty girl swag'

Then she fired for the kill.

'Pretty girl swag'

Then rushed in low on another to get in its face and fire upward from under its chin.

'Pretty girl swag'

"Dad, can you change the song." Fia yelled at her dad with annoyance. "It's extremely distracting and a buzz kill."

"Jeez, fine." He complied, using his free hand to change to the next random song on his phone's track list as he continued to fire. The Den didn't have time the question his choice in old music, or how out of character it was, as the song changed to Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball.

"Oh yeah, that's my jam!" Fia shouted out as her body swayed to the song. The Aragami felt the wrath of duo as they started to sing along with the song. Giving the Aragami a hard kick each time the song said 'wrecking ball.'

"-Running for my life

I will always want you."

They sang together, arm to shoulder as their free hand held their Gods Arc. Azar still firing his pistol with his free hand while Fia switched to blade mode as she sliced down the Aragami that got too close. Then they kicked together at the Aragami that came at them from the front.

"I came in like a wrecking ball!"

And it went on like that until the song ended. The Aragami were all dead one minute to the end of the song and they still kept going. All the Den could say it was an awkward return for the guys, as most of the signal guys couldn't meet her eyes. Either out of respect for her as a Gods Eater or out of fear of the wrath of her father, or Soma, if they looked at her with more than innocence.

Tsubaki had nothing to say about Fia's conduction, she couldn't punish Fia for doing her job... no matter how others interpreted it. And she 'did' do a good job, getting the mission done quickly and efficiently while still having fun. So she decided to end Fia's punishment on time and even end her tea ban early.

So now here Fia was, running from floor to floor, emptying out all the machines of their FLJ. Excitement and happiness splattered all over he face as a big smile coated her face with her uncontrollable laughter. The First Unit watched from the lounge couches as she finally made her way to the Entrance Floor. She carried a big bundle of FLJ cans between her arms as she ran to the last soda machine with FLJ still in it like a shopper on Black Friday.

"Hah ha HA! Today's a good day!" She laughed out.

"Don't you think you think you have enough, Fia." Sakuya nervously suggested, not wanting to ruin the good mood Fia was in. It had been days since Fia had last felt this good and Sakuya didn't want to stop her flow.

"She's practically the First Love Juice greatest buyer." Kota commented.

"More like she's it only customer." Soma teased with a smirk.

"She's practically keeping the product afloat, it's business must have been hurting without her consumer demand." Lindow joked around.

"Haha. Laugh all you want, guys. I'm in way too good of a mood to care." Then Fia began to skip around as she began to sing . "I'm happy, I'm happy! And I'll punch the man that says I'm not."

"Please don't..." Soma sighed.

"Soma, what's wrong?" Fia asked, coming up to him in concern when he kept turning his head to look at her. "Why won't you look at me in the eye?"

"Nh!" He nervously grunted as he continued to avoid her eyes, arms crossed as his hood hid his blush.

"Ugh, this is like third grade all over again!" She began to whine, starting sniffle crocodile tears.

"?!" They all looked in confusion in slight curiosity, while Soma only looked at her from the corner of his eyes. She had lifted a hand to the best of her ability without dropping a can to wipe away the corner tears in one of her eyes. Soma felt a pang of concern until he noticed those were her playfully tears not the rare pained tears she had only shown him once when she thought they had abandoned Lindow to die. She was teasing them.

"When I was in the third grade. (Sniff) People treated me like a criminal." She said in a cute childish voice that caught them off guard when she said the last part. "BECAUSE I KILLED SOMEBODY."

"!"

"To be fair, it was actually something." Azar corrected, coming up the stairs from the mission desk. "You kill one Aragami, and the whole place treats you like a monster. Kids can be so cruel at times."

"You took your eight year old daughter to kill Aragami?" Kota said in disbelief of Azar's parenting.

"It builds character, and removed her fear of what lies behind these Anti-Aragami Wall."

"It's true... she is fearless." Alisa pointed out at Azar's logic.

"Mph, a little too fearless if you ask me." Soma comment.

"Hey, I didn't choose this GE life. GE choose me." Fia grinned.

"Speaking of Gods Eater life, what are you up to today, Squirt." Azar asked.

"Other than emptying out all of the soda machines. I have a mission at the Forgotten Carrier with Soma and the twins."

"..." Azar had gotten uncharacteristically quiet.

"?" Fia had tilted her head to the side, trying to see what his face was hiding from her. "Daddy?"

"Hey, kid." He called out to Soma.

"Grh, it's So-"

"Take care of my girls."

"!" The open concern was so out of character it caught Soma, along with the others in the First Unit, off guard. He walked away into the Mission Elevator as if nothing had happen, Fia looking at where he once stood with concern.

"... He's remembering again..."

"?"

"Get ready, Soma. We're grabbing the twins and heading out." Fia said seriously, leaving no room for questions at her last statement.

*** Forgotten Carrier ***

The mission itself seemed simple enough. Kill some Cocoon Maidens and then go home, simple as that. There was 3 Spark Maidens, 2 Freeze Maidens, and 2 regular Cocoon Maidens scattered around the bridge.

"Split up." Fia instructed the others. It would be harder for the Cocoon Maidens to target the group with them moving around. Nina went after the Freeze Maidens while Lynn went after the Spark ones. Fia took out the regular ones with Soma since they would go down quicker, lowering the number of enemies faster. "Oh, I've got an OC bullet with your name on it."

"Quit playing around, Fia, and finish them off." Soma barked, sending a crushing blow down on one of the Cocoon Maidens. "Your sisters need our help."

"Oh they can handle themselves." She waved off as her sisters stormed through their targets.

Lynn hopped around like a jackrabbit high on sugar as she pierced through her Cocoon Maidens while dodging their needles. Nina had entered a pattern of fire-roll-fire with her Maidens.

"See, they're fine." But like jinxing the situation, the last of Lynn's Spark Maidens got a lucky needle spike burst. The attack knocked Lynn back and off her feet. While she was still on the floor it fired a spark attack that knock her back... off the bridge. "Lynn!"

"Sis!" "!" Nina and Soma gasped in concern at the same time. Eyes widen as they watched Lynn fall to her death, too far away to make it to her in time.

"AHH!" Lynn cried out as her body disappeared under the bridge, when suddenly a strong hand caught her by the ankle. Her plummeting came to a halt, her breath heavy as adrenaline rushed through her body after her near death experience. "!"

The hand had lifted her up again to reveal that her rescuer was her father. Azar had been in the area and had been watching the fight, only popping in when his girls needed him. He held her upside down with a look of stern anger on his face as he took the head shot on the offending Cocoon Maiden. The shot uprooted the Cocoon Maiden from the ground, it was the first time Azar had shown feelings other than sadistic glee.

"Daddy?" Lynn gasped out in disbelief that her father had actually saved her. Her fear replaced with concern when he lacked the usual evil grin on his face he had when on the battle field. He seemed reminiscent and so far away. "Dad?"

He didn't even look at her as he tossed her back on the bridge, leaving her to land on her butt with pain.

"..."

"Dad...?" Fia said in concern as he looked off at the Carrier crashed into the bridge.

"This place is still the same as ever." He snorted a breath of disgust. "It still reeks of hypocrisy and vile."

"Dad?"

"Don't stay out here too long." Azar commanded, walking back to the Starting Point. "You'll get dirty."

*** That night at the Den ***

Fia had broken into Soma's room again, invading his couch as she worked on a can of FLJ. For once Soma had allowed it without a fight, seeing how lost in thought she was.

"So what's the deal with your dad today?" Soma finally asked, leaning against his dresser with his arms and legs crossed as he waited for her to finally talk.

"Daddy was probably remembering the Rouge Wars." Fia reluctantly answered. "He doesn't like the Forgotten Carrier area much."

"Seriously? I didn't think anything could get to him." Soma huffed.

"You don't understand. Dad is... dad has been the game longer than us." She grew saddened, bringing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "He's lost many comrades in the field, and had to put many down. Aragami Infections were common back then, his sadistic nature was the only barrier he had to protect what sanity he had left. The will of a Slade is strong, but no man could never go through all that without some damage. Even still, I can't stand seeing him suffer inside like that..."

"..." Soma remained silent as Fia's explanation came to a stop. Fia had released her legs which returned to the floor. She got onto her feet, walking up to Soma with the melancholy on her face hidden by her bangs. "?!"

"Listen, Soma, I know that my dad is sometimes an asshole. And he may seem like a horrible father. But deep down he really does care in his own way, this is just the only way he knows how to show affection to others. So please, don't think badly for him, okay?"

"..."

"..." She looked at him with so much pleading in her eyes, he could never say no to those eyes.

"(Sigh) Fine," Soma exasperated out, putting an arm around her waist to pull her in for a hug. Wrapping his other hand around her back as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "I guess I can't think too badly about the guy. I mean... he did raise you after all. That's one good thing he did, and that's good enough for me."

"...!" A small smile came to Fia's face at his answer, bringing up her arms to wrap around him. "Heh, yeah... I guess you're right."

"I'm always right." He smirked.

"Hmph, sarcastic sap."

"Closet softie."

"This coming from the guy who can't even resist a girl that's crying."

"Only one..."


	13. Chapter 13

Sometimes it's good to see old enemies, means that they still remember you.

Demon Extermination

It had been a long day for Azar, and it was going to be a long afternoon for him too. He found his way to a local bar close to the Den that he was currently testing his tolerance at. He had been contemplating whether not to skip out on his assigned mission that afternoon. He did love a challenge, but he hated that place- or being given orders in general.

That bloody bridge to him was the symbol of mankind's stupidity. That even through times of crisis mankind wasn't able to put aside its differences or its blindness to greed for the better good of its survival. The random memories that came with the Forgotten Carrier whenever he went there were annoying. That place had the audacity to make a beat of guilt run through his cold heart, even a little. He'd rather not deal with that place in general.

But the mission was a promising one too... Ugh, today was too troublesome. Just as he was nursing a cold cup of beer, Soma came into the bar and sat beside him at the bar counter where he got a cup of beer himself.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" Azar said with a raised eyebrow at Soma.

"I'm a Gods Eater, the drinking age is 18 for us." Soma answered. "Aren't you a little old to be playing hooky?"

"Tushay." Azar grinned, swirling his drink around. "You're right, I am too old to be playing hooky. It's called 'going out' for me."

"And it's only coincidentally that you decided to go out when you have mission coming up soon?"

"Nope," Azar honestly answered. "I just don't want to deal with the Forgotten Carrier. And I could use a drink right now."

"Too many painful memories?"

"More like annoying ones. Blasted things like to come up at random like terrible house guest."

"... Then maybe you should stop feeding them. They'll stop coming around."

"Heha haha hahaha! That's funny." He laughed, taking a sip of his beer. Soma was taking a chug of his own when Azar dropped a bomb on him. "Sooo... how far have you gotten with my daughter?"

Soma spewed out his beer, coughing as some of it went down his lungs. Bumping a fist onto his chest Soma steadied his breathing as he turned to look at Azar. "What?!"

"She wasn't in her room again, leaving me to assume she spent the night with you. So have you touched my precious flower or not?"

"No!" Azar just stared at him, looking into Soma's eyes for any signs of lies. "We haven't done anything!"

"Hm..." Azar must have saw something truthful, because he believed Soma. "Good... Means you're looking at her for more than flesh."

"You care?"

"Of course I care." Azar gruffed, getting offended that Soma would even ask that. "She is my spawn, after all. Why would you think I wouldn't care?"

"I thought you didn't care what your kids did after they turned 17."

"To an extent." Azar grunted. "I'll trust my brats' judgement, but I'd be damn if their partners didn't earn my trust."

"!"

"It's bad enough that I can't go drinking with Blaise without having to scare off weak whimsical girls away, now I'll have to worry about Fia with you."

"But, uh-"

"(Sigh) At least I got another year before I have to worry about Rangi, four for the girls." He rambled on, taking another sip of his drink. "I won't have to worry about the twins defying me. But if I ever find Rangi in a bar before his time I've got an OC bullet for him."

"... some father of the year you are."

"Damn right, kid."

"Grrh, when are you going to start calling by my name?!"

"When you've earned it."

"!"

"Why don't you join me on this mission. Earn my respect. Earn my daughter."

"..." Soma looked at him for a long second, seeing if he was for real... He was. Turning back to his drink, Soma took one final chug to finish it before turning back to Azar. "I'll go. Tell me what I've gotta do."

*** Forgotten Carrier ***

"I call dibs on the Corrosive Hannibal!" Azar gleefully to Soma as they ran toward their opponents by the Carrier. "You can have the Hannibal. Ooh, there's even Cocoon Maidens."

He was right, there were Cocoon Maidens present all around Sector A and B, four of them in fact. But they were of no extra concern to Soma, it was the Corrosive Hannibal that had him uncomfortable.

"A Corrosive Hannibal. Ugh, great... not one of those rotten pieces of meat again." Soma sighed out as they worked together to take care of the Cocoon Maidens in Sector A.

"Hm?" Azar raised an eyebrow at Soma's statement as he shot down the last Maiden in the Sector while Soma went for the core. "Have some special quarrel with that Aragami?"

"Of sorts," he answered as they went to take out the Cocoon Maidens in Sector B. His irritation caused by the topic empowered his crushing blow on the Cocoon Maiden. "That damn daughter of yours just gave me a scare once, fighting one alone."

"Ha, my girl." He praised, firing a couple of shots into the last Cocoon Maiden's chest. Soma yanked out its core as they continued running up the bridge for their primary targets.

"She got lucky that time. But she had almost died when we fought a Hannibal for the first time, I had to carry her back unconscious."

"... Did you stay by her side?"

"What?"

"Did you stay by her side when she was unconscious?"

"Y-yeah," Soma answered in embarrassment. "I stayed with her until she woke up..."

"... Hm..."

"?"

"There's our targets." Azar finally spoke. "Best take care of your vendetta, I'm going to face a new opponent to me."

"What the? I don't have a vendetta!" Soma growled with a blush.

"Heh haha! Your voice gives you away, you big push over." Azar smirked widely, enjoying Soma's distraught. Teasing Soma some more as he ran toward his target. "Go. Avenge your princess's tribulation upon the demon, noble hero."

"Ugh, be quiet old man!" Soma growled at him.

The Corrosive Hannibal was devouring salvage material in Sector C, while the Hannibal did the same in Sector E. The Hannibal started to run toward them when it heard Azar fire at the Corrosive Hannibal, but Soma met it halfway at Sector C. The Corrosive Hannibal constantly tried to shoot corrosive energy balls from its mouth at Soma, but he just stayed on the other side of the Hannibal to use as a shield. Didn't help much that Soma had to keep dashing from his target to avoid molten corrosive attacks from the Corrosive Hannibal.

"Dammit, can't you keep better track of your Aragami?!"

"Don't get angry at me that it took a liking to you, kid." Azar chuckled, dashing out of the way of the Corrosive Hannibal's claw attack then firing at its head.

"Avoid shooting the back scale!" Soma warned. "It'll make'em set this whole place ablaze!"

"Heh, I got it."

Each of the Hannibals were slowly herding toward each other. Making the fight a lot harder for the two, since they were constantly caught off guard by the others Aragami's spear attack. At last Soma was able to break off the gauntlet armor of his Aragami, but that only served to get it angry. Constantly getting on its twos and sword dancing around the area with its fire blades. Both of them were forced to dodge- and block for Soma's case but they couldn't dodge them all. Didn't help either that the Corrosive Hannibal kept doing its tail attack, smacking the crap out of the both of them.

"Dammit," Soma hissed, taking a Recovery Pill II. "No good, huh."

Having enough, Soma struck hard at the back of the Hannibal's knee, knocking it down to the ground. While down he went for the head armor. Soma wasn't able to destroy the armor but he was able to weaken the Hannibal enough that it struggled to get back on its feet again, let alone attack.

"Hey, how you doing old man?" Soma called back to Azar, turning to check on him while the Hannibal was busy struggling to get up. What he saw did not please him. "!"

Azar was down on one knee as the Corrosive Hannibal curled up for a tail attack. A trail of his blood leaked from his grinning mouth as a puddle of it gathered around him. But his eyes still widened in excitement as his body slightly shook with glee.

"Oh my, it's been a long time since I've seen so much of my own blood before." Then his voice began to deeply purr. "This guy's got magic hands, or should I say magic claws."

"What are you doing?! Use a recovery item already!" Soma shouted at him in concern. The tail came swinging, Azar jumped back at the last second.

"I already used them all!"

"What?! Why didn't you pack more?!"

"Never had a need to."

"Damn it," Soma groaned, reaching in his pocket for something. It's a good thing Fia taught him how to make these in the Terminal and was a stickler about him carrying at least one with him when he went on missions without her. He threw a Recovery Wall close to Azar's direction as he turned back to finish his Hannibal. "Here, old man. Don't go dying on me!"

"Heh, death's too scared to collect me!" Azar crazily laughed, jumping backwards into the Recovery Wall. His wounds closed instantly, healing most of his damage as he dashed back toward his prey. "Now, hit me with your best shot!"

"Glad you're back to your crazy self." Soma teased at Azar while charging his devouring mode. Focusing back on the Hannibal he took a bite while it got ready for a blade attack. "Sorry..."

He took the bite, knocking the Hannibal back on the ground and giving him a boost. He took a few extra powered up strikes to finally finish the Hannibal off then extracted the core. Once done, he dashed over to help Azar with the Corrosive Hannibal. Having to dash to the left at the last second as the Aragami fired corrosive fireballs at him again. Then he had to move to the side, along with Azar on the other, to attack at the Corrosive Hannibal's arm as it let out a wave of a breath of corrosive fire.

A good shot to its leg got it down on the ground. Moving to its front, Soma began striking at its face armor and thus breaking it. Azar had been working on it early so it made the job easy for Soma. Enraged but unable to do anything, the Corrosive Hannibal fell to the ground, weakened and tired. Soma had moved to the side to try and break its gauntlet armor, but Azar moved to the front to get the final heat shot.

"Pity," he pointed his barrel at its head. "You came the closest."

BANG

"It's over..." Soma sighed out, catching his breath as the Aragami finally stilled. Extracting the core once the rush of battle calmed from his system. "Man, that was a handful."

"A shame it's over, really. I could've gone for five more minutes."

"..." Soma looked Azar over in disbelief. "You look like hell, old man."

"Heh, right back at you, brat."

It's true, both were worse for wear. Banged up and out of healths, not a very good combination.

"Soma von Schicksal!"

"!" Fia?! What was she doing there? Soma nearly flinched at the anger in her voice as he froze in place. There she came, marching in from the horizon of the bridge. Stomping down hard, and royally pissed.

"You've got a lot of nerve taking on a mission like this all on your own!" She yelled, making her way toward him. "I'd expect a stupid stunt like that from me, not from you!"

"Why are you only angry at me?! Your dad took it on too!"

"Oh, please! Dad does stunts like this all the time, I couldn't stop him even if I wanted to. But YOU, you know better than that, Soma! Look at you two! You look like crap!" She final made it up to him, face to face as she poked at his chest. "I'm the crazy one here! I do all the reckless missions, don't go making me worried sick because you decided to do idiotic stunts!"

"Heh, I like to think of it as payback." Soma grinned down at her, making a vein pop from her forehead.

"Oh, you make me so made I just wanna...!" Soma expected her to punch him. But he was caught off guard as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in for a hug. "I'll never forgive you if you do something like this again. So promise you won't be reckless like this again, okay?"

"!" He was caught by surprise by the affection in her voice, causing his eyes to widen. But they soon softened as his body began to relax in her arms. Lifting his arms to her lower and upper back, he hugged her back. "Yeah... I promise."

"Okay! ...Well that's a promise you better keep, Soma-" But then Fia was suddenly pulled out of Soma's arms and lifted onto her father's shoulder like a potato sack. "?!"

"Sorry to break up the love fest, but I was starting to barf." Azar groaned out, walking toward the Starting Point with his daughter still on his shoulder. "You can make kissy-kissy faces with each other when I'm not around."

"Daddy!" "!" Both Fia began blush madly at his words.

"What? Don't act like it wasn't going to happen if I didn't stop it. You brats probably even forgot I was there." Then he looked at Soma, following after them in the back, with the corner of his eyes. "I'm afraid this dragon isn't going to take any 'buts', Soma. You're gonna have to wait for another time."

"!" Soma gasped with widened eyes... Azar called him by his name.

"Heh, congratulations, Soma. You passed."

"Hm," Soma let out a small smile. Pleased to have finally gotten Azar's approval of him.

"But that still doesn't mean I want grandkids now!"

"!"

"Dad!"


	14. Chapter 14

Ah, nothing like doing a big job with your family. Makes the task a lot more fun, and memorial in a golden or comical way.

Thanks for coming along for the ride everyone. I hope you give my other developing story a try. It should be more of a long trip.

The Slades' Day

"All right, way to go, Soma!" Kota praised to Soma with a pat on the back. It was the end of the day and Fia had just given the news that her father finally started calling Soma by his name to the girls. And knowing how the grapevine works the girls spread the news to the guys of the First Unit who then in turn told the guys from the other two units. And they in turn spread the news to the others in the Den. So here they were, dragging Soma to the Entrance lounge to celebrate with some drinks. "Now that you're in good terms with the old man you're clear for takeoff with Fia."

"Don't you guys have something better to do than bother with my personal life?" Soma groaned out as he took the needed sip of his can of beer to wash away the on coming headache.

"This is a big deal, Soma." Lindow teased at him. "Once you've got the approval of the girl's father your relationship is practically in the clearing."

"Ugh, I told you it's not like that." Soma groaned out, trying his best to hide the on coming blush under his hood.

"Really? Then why did you fight so hard?" Karel chuckled out.

"?!"

"You honestly didn't have to take that mission with General Slade, nor the ones with the other Slades that Fia asked you to tag along in. But you did it anyway, for feelings that you have for Fia that you constantly try to hide from others."

"!"

"And honestly, you're the only one who can handle the Den's Raven by yourself." Shun commented in with a shrug. "She's cute but has a lot of baggage. I wouldn't last long with a father like she has, that would be too much of a pain for me. But hey, you're pretty good with challenges! And you're use to carrying extra baggage so she's going to be no problem for you!"

"Damn you all, shut up." Soma growled out.

"Aw, he's shy." Lindow poked at him. "We better ease up on him guys or he might sink into that hood."

"Good luck with Fia, Sempai." Federico nervously congratulated before turning his eyes to the ground. "I won't lie, I respect your choice but I am not envious."

"?" Kota looked at Federico with a titled head of confusion. "Are you still scared of Fia?"

"!" Federico began to break into a nervous sweat.

"Jesus, what the hell did she do to you guys during those training sessions?!" Shun asked, getting slightly nervous when Federico curled into a ball, hiding his face in his legs.

"First rule of the Raven's training: never talk about the Raven's training."

"Dude, are you crying?" Kota asked in disbelief as Federico began to shake.

"Second rule of the Raven's training: No crying during the Raven's training!"

"Hey!" They flinched at the sudden voice of Fia. "What did I say about crying, little man! It's a waste of salt."

Kota and Soma began to break into a nervous sweat when her eyes began to search the group and stopped when they spotted them. Smiling widely as she began to skip toward them in a sing-tone chime.

"Soma! Soma, Kota, Soma, my favorite buddies!" She chimed as she went to sit between them on the couch and wrapped an arm around both of their shoulders.

"!" Kota began to fidget in his spot, fearing what her next move would be.

"(Sigh) What do you want?" Soma sighed out in yield, already knowing that she was after something from them.

"Ooh, you can read me like a book." She happily cooed to Soma. "I need you boys to go on a co-op mission with me."

"Wha?!"

"Those kind of missions don't usually end well." Soma said in concern. Usually for those kind of missions there was either a lot Aragami and a lot of casualties; or, it was a set up by a Higher up to get rid of the loose ends. Either option did not bode well for Soma when it came to his unit, or his crazy Raven.

"It sure isn't going to end well for the Aragami, I'll tell yah that!" Fia laughed out before calming down again. "But, yeah, there's a Yaksha Raja infestation on Aegis Island. Multiple numbers of them have been spotted in the area along with a stronger than usual Hannibal, they have most likely created a nest in the area. Anyway, we are to destroy the herds before they get too strong and pose a noticeable threat to the Branch."

"Boy... that sounds like a tough one." Kota commented.

"It sounds like a drag."

"Aw, come on, Soma. Don't be a poor sport." She pouted, giving him a little rock with her arm. "This is going to be fun."

"For us or you?"

"Hopefully, both." She said with a smirk. "Listen, the second team is waiting for a response, and Alisa had already said she was down with it. So, are you guys in or out?"

"Alright, I'm in." Fia smiled at Kota's answer, then turned to Soma, waiting for his response with pleading eyes.

"(Sigh) Fine... So who's the second team anyway?"

"Excellent!" She cheered, wrapping an arm around each of them as she lifted them off their feet and dragged them off. "Oh don't worry about them, it's just the Slades."

"?!" Kota and Soma panicked, regretting that they even agreed to this mission. Their nervousness only served to feed the grin on Fia's face.

"That's right, boys. Tonight is the night of the Slades!" She laughed out as they disappeared inside the Mission Elevator. "There's going to be Aragami blood everywhere!"

"..." The group left behind simply stared off at the spot where the three of them once stood in skeptic silence.

"Those poor bastards..." Shun shook his head in sympathy.

"I don't know whether to be happy for Soma or sorry." Karel chuckled out.

"Ah, just be happy for him. He finally found someone to keep him on his toes." Lindow pointed out with a grin.

*** Aegis Island ***

ROAR!

"Whoa. We've got a lot of company!" Kota yelled as they were greeted by a Hannibal, two Yakshas, and a Yaksha Raja on the field.

"It's enough to make a grown man cry." Azar said in awe, catching the others off guard. "But not this man. I am beyond excited by the predicament of this battle."

"Careful, Dad, you'll start drooling if you keep it up." Blaised joked around.

"If I do it'll be while doing the things I enjoy the most."

"If you keep grinning with a face like that, people will mistake you for having rabies." Rangi mocked, readying his God Arc.

"Heh, rabies wishes it was just like me."

"Enough with the talking." Interrupted Nina.

"Come on," Lynn added in before finishing the sentence along with Nina.

"We've got some Aragami to terminate."

"Right! Let's finish them off!" Alisa encouraged.

"Alright!" Fia fist pumped, before giving out the team strategy. "Soma, you're with me on the Hannibal!"

"Blaise, you and me go after the Yaksha on the left!" Azar instructed along side Fia.

"Rangi, Kota, Alisa, you work together on the Yaksha Raja!" Fia continued.

"Lynn, Nina, take care of the Yaksha on the right!" Azar instructed as everyone was getting pumped up.

"Right!" They all shouted in positive confirmation. They all jumped into the area, Fia and Azar leading the pact.

"Let's give'em hell!" Father and daughter excitedly roared together.

The first move made on the field was by the Hannibal as it tried to do its 1-2-3 claw strike on Fia and Soma, which the two blocked with a hard shield. Going right into action the two began to bombard the Hannibal with slashes and crushing blows. Soma stuck to the side while Fia boldly struck at its front. But both were caught off guard as a tail attack from the Hannibal knocked them both back off their feet. Just as Fia was getting back on her feet a friendly fire knocked her back further.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Alisa sorrowfully apologized. Her Yaksha Raja had just ran pass Fia in a failed attacked and Alisa had taken the shot but hit the wrong target. But Fia got back up with no problem.

"No worries A-shot, it's all go!" Fia cheered at her. Observing how the Hannibal had released a breath of fire attack right in the area she was just standing. If Alisa had not shot her, Fia would've been a cooked marshmallow. "See, you're helping!"

"Heh!" Alisa held in a laugh as Fia gave her a thumb's up. But now was the time for that, she had Yaksha Raja to take care of.

"Head back in the game, Trigger-happy!" Soma warning growled at Fia through gritted teeth. But he was knocked down by the Hannibal's claw attack while he was attacking its side during its blaze attack. Once it was done knocking Soma back, the Hannibal jumped at Fia with a spear attack which she blocked with her shield.

"Whoa! Ha, shoot your words right back at yah, Soma! Good thing I came packing with Recovery Bullets." Fia grinned, changing into gun-mode after taking down her shield. She shot Soma two Recovery Bullets before changing back into blade-mode and jokingly speaking in a medieval knightly accent. "Eat my sword, foul beast!"

Her attack knocked the Hannibal off its feet, but also destroying its back scale. Meaning that the Hannibal was going to be a lot more trouble once it got back on its feet. So Fia and Soma put more energy into their strikes as the Hannibal's fire wings came out. It was going to let out a fire breath attack when Fia's blade smack the crap out of it, knocking it onto two legs to wipe the blood from its mouth. Angered, it got back on all fours for a tail attack. Fia was able to block it with her shield, but she was too impatient and was smacked down by a claw attack the moment she took down her shield.

"Ow!"

"Fia!" Soma called out to her in concern.

"Ugh, I'll live." She assured to him, cupping her now bleeding clawed cheek.

"S-s-s-super bitch slap!" Rangi joked over to his sister as he dodged the Yaksha Raja's claw attack.

"Oh shut it, Rangi!" Fia growled at her brother before tightening her grip on her God Arc. "But you're right, this fool handled me like a pimp! And we can't have that."

The Hannibal rose into the air to release a blaze burst attack, causing Fia and Soma to block it with their shields.

"Ha! Justice be my shield!" Fia taunted at the Hannibal's failed attack. As it got back down on its feet, she went for an immediate strike. "And truth be my blade!"

The attack knocked the Hannibal off its feet, gripping its arm in pain. Leaving it open and at the mercy of Soma and Fia's attacks.

"Sorry..." Soma said down to the Hannibal, taking a devouring bite out of it for a boost burst. Charging up for a powerful blow, Soma cast the final blow on the Hannibal. "What an eye sore."

"The beast is slain!" Fia jokingly praised before turning to the others. "How's it going with you guys?!"

"Clear!" Alisa, Kota, and Rangi all confirmed as their Yaksha Raja went down with their three-team combo.

"Clear!" The twins said at the same time as Nina shot their Yaksha onto its knees while Lynn went for the decapitation.

"Heh, down." Azar chuckled out, giving the ending head shot to his and Blaise's Yaksha.

"(Huff) Was that... was that all of them?" Kota tiredly asked, but got the answer he wasn't hoping for.

ROAR!

"Heh, well..." Azar grinned as three more Yahsha and a Yaksha Raja came climbing up into the area, surrounding them. "They did say it would be a nest!"

"Ha, great..." Soma groaned out sarcastically. "Any idea how many we're dealing with?"

"All we know for sure is that there is 13 Yaksha." Alisa answered.

"Charming." Rangi smirked.

"Sounds like a party!" Nina and Lynn cheered together.

"Any orders you got for us?" Blaise asked, hoping that this would end up being a free-for-all.

"Nope." Fia answered with a sadistic smile.

"Only one," Azar said, taking charge. Cocking his pistol as the first Yaksha popped its head into the arena. "Make it rain."

"Yes sir!" They all responded back, getting ready for one hell of fight.

It was glorious battle filled with many sonic booming shots, charging claw attacks, and satellite homing the will of a Gods Eater burned through both of the teams, and after a long 15 minutes the mission had been completed. All a little banged up, all a little messy with Aragami blood.

"Is that (huff) the last one?" Kota tiredly asked, slightly out of breath.

"Looks like it." Soma answered, looking around the arena to see all the fallen Yaksha Rajas and Yakshas lying around like a brutal battlefield. "Ugh, how many did we kill anyway?"

"13 Yakshas, 5 Yaksha Rajas, and 1 Hannibal!" Azar happily answered with a sadistic grin.

"You seem to be a stickler about the causality number." Rangi pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you even know me, Rangi?!" Azar rhetorically asked, shocked that his son would even have to point out that information as if it wasn't a given.

"(Sigh) Of course." Rangi tiredly sighed out, sliding a hand down his face in exhaustion. "Why do I even bother asking?"

"Yeah, I wonder that too." Fia pointed out. "You should know this stuff by now. Come on, let's be honest."

"Save it, Sis. Ugh, let's just get out of here."

"Yeah... let's get the hell out of here so we can get the rotten meat smell out of our clothes." Soma said, looking down at his coat covered in Aragami blood before looking over at Fia. "For God's sake, woman, clean up that damn cut."

His words were rough but his hand was soft as he gently cupped her injured cheek. "It'll scar if you don't take care of it."

"Pfft, please." Fia waved off, taking a Recovery Pill to leave only dry blood behind. "God Eaters don't scar, you know our fast Oracle Regeneration won't allow that. If it did that would be so cool."

"Woman."

"What? Battle scars are hot." She pouted out, causing Soma to squish her lips together with his hands out of irritation.

"Save it, fetish nut-case." Soma told her with a teasing smirk. "Let's just head back before the stink sinks into our clothes."

"I rather like the smell, Soma." Azar commented with a whiff. "It reminds me of happy occasions out on the field."

"You can savor the sensation some other time. We would all like to call it a night." Soma suggested as he started to head back with the others before a thought came to his mind to make him turn back to Azar. "And don't wonder around now."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you fun killer." Azar groaned out, but surprisingly complied.

*** A week later ***

It had been a long week with many crazy missions, tea parties, and surprised dress up attacks. Sometimes the First Unit would willingly go with the flow, and other times they would fight it. But the Slades didn't mind it, they usually liked challenges, especially the girls. And through it all Soma went through it all with patience and all the dignity he could muster. He did it all, for the strange girl named after a raven.

But like all things, the Den's time with the Fia's final had to come to an end. The new breeds of Aragami's numbers had come to a manageable size and the missions had finally eased up to a normal amount. Their task was done, so now they had to return to their Branches. All the better for Azar, he felt that this Branch didn't need him anymore... or pose him a challenge.

So there they were in the Entrance, saying goodbye to Fia and the three top units as their Choppers came down.

"Well, this is it , Sis." Blaise spoke first, breaking the awkward melancholy silence. "You going to miss us, Fia?"

"Tst, as if, Beast." She huff out, slightly mumbling as she crossed her arms and turned her face away from him to hide the blush and pout on her face. "It'll be quieter without you guys. And it looks like you'll have fun without me."

"Aw," Blaised chuckled out, bringing his sister in for a big bear hug. "I'm going to miss you too, Fia. Try to stay out of trouble until the holidays."

"Pfft, you big cuddle bear." She teased with endearment as she relaxed into the hug. Once Blaise let her down, Fia moved to Rangi to affectionately rub his head. "Try not to lead too many God Eaters into depression with your attitude or mind fuck them, Rangi."

"Hmph, only the weak and the foolish break under my tutelage." Rangi huffed out, smacking Fia's hand away from him only to place his hand on top of her head. "Try not to break too many fighters too while I'm gone. Grown adults crying is a disgusting sight."

"Heh, I'll do my best to keep that in mind. But that still doesn't mean I'm lessening my tea parties."

"Of course..."

"Nina, Lynn, come on now. Leave Soma alone and come give your big sister a hug." Fia called out to the twins. It appears they had taken a liking to Soma over the course of their stay at the Den. Over the many courses of tea parties they had become attached to Soma, seeing him more as a brother figure and a play buddy. And so here they were, hugging into his sides much to Soma's annoyance.

"Noooo." They whined out, giving Soma an extra squeeze. "If we go, Soma-nii-san will revert back to his dark and moody ways. He needs us as a fashion police."

"Grr, you brats." Soma growled out in annoyance. It would always be a mystery to him as to why children always got so attached to him.

"Yeah, but you have a responsibility to monitor and secure the fashion back at your own Branch. I beat they slipped up to a wore drove malfunction without you."

"!" The thought of their Branch falling into a fashion malfunction had them in a panic, but leaving their new brother figure behind also had them in a conflict of interest. "..."

"Come on, you can't stall your Branch any longer and Soma will be here for visits. So..." She opened her arms wide in invitation. "Come here and give your sister a goodbye hug before she gets jealous."

Finally letting go of Soma, the twins ran off into Fia's who grinned in victory at Soma as if this was a competition to her.

"Make sure he doesn't just wear that blue hoodie." Nina and Lynn insisted.

"Of course, that's a given." Fia whined out in fiend disappointment that they would even ask. Then she gave them an extra hug with endearment. "Take care over there, you firecrackers. I'll have an extra cup of tea for every tea party, just for you two."

"Bye, Sisy." The twins replied with watering eyes that they tried to hide.

"See yah guys on the next holiday..." She let go of the twins and pushed them toward their brothers so they could give them a proper goodbye as well. Then all got nervous in the Entrance as Fia and Azar had a stare-off. "Daddy..."

"Fia..."

"!" That's when it happened, both of them threw the first punch, right in the cheek.

"Don't go dying out there on me, you crazy old man."

"What? Please, you're the one I should be worried about croaking out there. So don't be hate'n on my swagger."

"Ha!" She laughed out, pulling brass knuckles from her pocket. One had engraved the word 'HATE' while the other had 'LOVE' on it. She went for the combo punch. "I love to hate and hate to love."

She quoted out a she punched his cheeks to imprint on his cheek 'love hate' under each other and 'hate love' on the other cheek.

"Ahh, classy." He sighed out in praise before bringing a fists down on her head. "But don't be step'n to the original Hater."

"A title you can certainly have, Daddy." She replied, tossing off the brass knuckles. "I just want the awesome quote."

"It is pretty awesome!" He commented rushing his fist up for a mean upper cut as she was doing the same.

"Damn right, old man!" They were going to kill each other.

"!" But the units were shocked as their fists missed each other in vouch for grabbing the others shoulder to bring them in for a hug.

"Love you Daddy."

"Love you too, Sweetie-bird."

"..." The normal fatherly-daughter moment of affection was so unexpected by the others, they found it disturbing.

"Don't die on me..."

"I'm too stubborn to die..." He let her go to take a step back. Then he brought his attention back to the three units. "It's been fun shooting Aragami with you all. I hope that I'll have the pleasure of doing it again in the near future. Soma..."

"!" Soma was caught off guard by the civil gesture from Azar as he held his hand out for him. Not one to show the man any disrespect, Soma took the hand in a solid shake. Giving Azar a firm grip as their hands shook. But he was brought back on guard when Azar pulled him in closer to whisper something in his ear. "!"

"I've got a OC bullet with your name on it if Fia ever gives me the call that she's got a bun in the oven."

"Ugh! Oh come on, sir!" Soma growled in embarrassment and annoyance that they were bringing this topic up again. His shouting and his blush made the others nervous and curious as to what they were talking about.

"Juuuuust making sure." Azar stretched out before pulling back away from Soma. "Make her happy, kid."

"Grh, must we revert back to this?" Soma growled out, irritated at the lack of address to his proper name.

"Only a little. I rather enjoy your reaction to the names."

"Jerk."

"I know." Azar smirked before him and his other kids started walking out to their respective Chopper. "Peace out."

"Bye guys!" "Bye!" The Den and the Slades waved back to each other.

Then they were, leaving all quiet with only the sounds of their Choppers flying off. Peace had finally returned to the Den, for the most part. Oddly enough... they were already starting to miss the chaos.

*** Later that night ***

Soma was looking up at his ceiling, resting his hands behind his head as he lied in bed. The whole Slades business had thrown his days way over the loop. He would never take Fia for granted when it came to her family. She was a familiar insanity to him, they were like a chaotic essence that made his head ache.

But now that they were gone he began to feel strange without that nagging headache in the back of his head poking at him. Its was eerily quiet now... boringly quiet. It felt weird actually finally getting some peace and rest without disturbance.

As if hearing his awkward distress, Fia barged in to save the day. Moving around Soma as she crawled into his bed beside him without care.

"(Sigh) And what are you doing sneaking into my room again?"

"Technically, it's not sneaking if I blatantly walk in within your plain sight."

"You're dodging the question."

"I was kinda getting lonely." She finally admitted. "It's never been easy for me seeing them go..."

"..." She looked so pitiful with that I'm-not-sad-you're-seeing-things pout on her face. "(Sigh) Fine..."

"?" She looked at his with skepticism as he lifted up an arm to invite her into his embrace. It could be a trap for all she knew to get her guard down then toss her off the bed.

"Get over here already." Soma tiredly ordered her. Not wanting him to take back his offer, she leaped into his embrace to cuddle into his side. He slightly flinched as her cold feet sought out the warmth of his. But all in all, once he gave in to her affection, it actually felt kinda nice. She'd snuggled close to his collarbone as he returned to looking up to the ceiling. "You know... your family's kinda nice... to an extent."

"Hm, yeah... to an extent..." Fia tiredly agreed with happy content. "But then again... so am I..."

"I'll take your kind of insanity anytime of the day." Soma smirked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Heh, sap."

"Giant brat."

"Softie."

"Cuddle-bug."

"Sweetie-pie."

"!" Soma was caught off guard as she moved to take a lick at his neck. Making him heat up and blush. "H-hey!"

"Hm... hey, Soma."

"What?" He growled out.

"How come your taste reminds me of hot fudge sundaes?"

"?!" He stiffed at the question and his heart began to beat faster.

"I think I might call you Hot Fudge from now on."

"If you so much as try it I will burn up all of your dress up costumes, destroy all the FLJ in the Den, and lock you out of my room for months."

"No, don't do that!" She whined out at the last part. "Can I at least call you that when we're alone?"

"Hmph, only when we're alone."

"Deal!" She happily cuddled closer to him. Slowly she began to fall into a slumber beside him. "This means, you've gotta think of a name for me."

"I already have one."

"Oh?"

"Yeah... Trigger-happy." Soma grinned at her.

"That's not creative... that's not creative... at all..." Fia pouted out as she finally fell asleep.

Soma admired her sleeping figured for awhile as sleep was starting to take hold of him. She look so peaceful, the sadistic grin on her face or the plotting expression long gone as she dreamed of things that he could hardly imagine. Such a massive bundle of chaos she was, in such a little thing.

He brush some stray bangs out of her face as he leaned to give her forehead a kiss. He cupped her head under his chin as he was about to fall to sleep when suddenly his phone began to ring. Annoyed, he reached over to his hoodie's pocket, hanging on top of his dresser. Pulling his phone out he drowsily answered it.

BANG BANG!

He shot wide awake in shock at the gun shots on the other line. His heart beating fast in the startle as the adrenaline rushed through his body. Fia remained asleep and undisturbed.

"Remember, don't make me into a grandpa." Came the voice of Azar in a chime-tone way before he hung up.

"..." Soma just stared down at his phone, startled and too shocked to be able to go to sleep now. "How the hell did he get my number?"

~ The End ~


End file.
